d 




Class _iLil£. 



CoffyiigteN". 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



America s Great Men and Their Deeds 



A 



mencan noneers 



Pi 



By 



William A. Mowry 

and 

Blanche S. Mowry 




& 



Silver, Burdett and Company 

New York Boston Chicago 



^n"- 

\\^^ 



LIBRARY of c:0M'3«tS3 

juN 9 lyws' 



Copyright, iqos. by 
SILVER, I5URDETT AND COMPANY 



J. F. TAPLEY CO. 

BOOK MANUFACTURERS 

NEW YORK 



PREFACE 

Children like stories of action and adventure. 
Their tastes should be consulted in placing be- 
fore them lessons in history. Heretofore this 
study has been too often presented to them in 
such a manner as to make it dry and uninterest- 
ing. Whenever it has been made interesting, 
they have enjoyed it ; and some parts of history 
have always a charm for boys and girls. 

The true pedagogical method of presenting 
history to young people is to give them at first 
those portions in which they naturally take the 
deepest interest. Still further ; deeds, deeds of 
men, things done, personal anecdotes and inci- 
dents — these always claim a large share of their 
attention. Biography is the backbone of his- 
tory. 

This series of books, — " America's Great Men 
and their Deeds," — including " Inventions," 
" Heroes," " Pioneers," has been prepared on 
this plan and is designed for supplementary 
readers for the sixth, fifth, and fourth grades. 
It is recommended that this book be used first, 
then " Heroes" and "Inventions." 



6 PREFACE 

Acknowledgment is made to the following 
authors and publishers for the permission, which 
they have very kindly granted, to use copy- 
righted illustrations : 

The Marietta Mound, from Builders and Later Indians, by 
Gerard Fowke. The Ohio State Archjeological and Historical 
Society. 

Sarah Bush Lincoln, Costume worn by a Matroii of Illinois 
in the Days of Lincoln' s Yoiitli, Lincoln s Surveying Instrti- 
vients, Lincoln in 1857, from Tarbell's Life of Lincoln. iMc- 
Clure, Phillips & Co. 

Mary Lyon ; Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, 1886 ; The 
Talcott Arboretum, from Views of Mount Holyoke College. Asa 
Stephen Kinney, M.S. 

Dr. Howe Teaching Laura Bridgman, from Laura Bridgman, 
by Maude Howe and Florence Howe Hall. Little, Brown & 
Company. 

I^aura Bridgman Teaching a Fellow-Pupil to Read, from 
Life of Laura Bridgman, by Mary Swift Lamson. Dorothea 
Lynde Dix, from Life of Dorothea Lynde Dix, by Francis 
Tiffany. Houghton, Mififiin and Company. 



CONTENTS 

Part I 
PIONEERS OF CIVILIZATION 



The First Migration— Across the Atlantic 

CHAPTER 

I. Pedro Menendez and the Early Days of Florida . 
II. Samuel Champlain, the Founder of New France 

III. John Smith, the Pioneer of Virginia 

IV. William Blackstone, the First Settler in Boston 

and Rhode Island ...... 

V. Peter Stuyvesant and the Dutch in New York 
VI. William Penn and the Quakers in Pennsylvania . 



PAGE 

21 

34 

47 
58 



The Second Migration— Over the Alleghanies 



VII. Father Marquette, the Jesuit Missionary 
VIII. Iberville, the Founder of Louisiana 
IX. Daniel Boone, the Pioneer of Kentucky . 
X. Simon Kenton and the Indian Raids 
XI. George Rogers Clark, the Hero of the Northwest 
Territory ....... 

XII. Rufus Putnam, the " Father of Ohio " . 

XIII. Wdham Clark and Early Life in Missouri 

XIV. David Crockett, the Tennessee Patriot . 
XV. Samuel Houston and Pioneer Days in Texas . 



81 

94 
103 

117 

127 

13S 
150 
163 
173 



8 CONTENTS 

The Third Migration — Across the Rocky 
Mountains 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XVI. Captain John A. Sutter and the Discovery of Gold 187 
XVII. Amos L. Lovejoy and the Early Settlements in 

Oregon . . . . . . . .196 

XVIII. Peter H. Burnett, the First Governor of Calitornia 205 



Part II 
PIONEERS OF REFORM 

Government 

XIX. Thomas Jefferson, the Author of the Declaration of 

Independence . . . . . . .217 

XX. James Madison, the Father of the Constitution . 230 
XXI. Al)raham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclama- 
tion 239 

Education 

XXII. John Harvard and Harvard College . . . 256 

XXIII. Horace Mann and the Public Schools . . . 266 

XXIV. Mary Lyon and the Higher Education of Women . 279 
XXV. Samuel G. Howe, the Friend of the Blind and Deaf 292 

XXVI. General Samuel C. Armstrong and the Education 

of the Colored Races ..... 306 

Philanthropy 

XXVII. John Eliot, the " Apostle to the Indians" . . 318 

XXVIII. Peter Caitvvright, the Itinerant Preacher . . 326 

XXIX. Dorothea L. Dix, the Friend of the Insane . .337 

XXX. John B. Gough, the Temperance Lecturer . . 347 



ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS 



PAGE 

he Old Spanish Gate at St. 

Augustine 14 

St. Mark's Castle, St. Augus- 
tine 17 

I'rench Soldiers Attacking the 

Spanish Fort 18 

A Spanish Ship on the Florida 

Coast 20 

Jacques Cartier 22 

Wigwam in the Canadian For- 
est in 1 840 24 

Samuel de Champlain 26 

Champlain's Attack on the 

Iroquois Fort 29 

Working a Canoe up a Rapid 

of the St. Lawrence 31 

Chesapeake Bay {Map) 34 

The Landing of the Settlers 

at Jamestown 35 

Building Tents and Booths at 

Jamestown 36 

Captain John Smith 37 

Smith's Combat with Grualgo 39 
Capjtain Smith Rescued by 
Pocahontas ........... . 43 

Ruins of the Tower of the 
Church Built at Jamestown 

by the Early Settlers 45 

John Smith's Pistol 46 

The Settlers Choosing a Site 

on the Charles River 48 

Shipping Wharves at Boston 
To-day 50 



PAGE 

Statue of Blackstone 51 

Governor Winthrop 52 

The First Settlements of Mas- 
sachusetts and Rhode Island 

(^/«/) 54 

Monument to Roger Williams 
at Providence, R. I. . . . . . 55 

On the Road to Boston 57 

The Palisades of the Hudson 
River opposite Manhattan 

Island. . . 59 

Peter Stuyvesant {Portrait 

and Autograph) 60 

The East River Gate and 

Blockhouses of the Stockade 61 
Stuyvesant's "Bouwerie" 

House .... 63 

Stuyvesant Destroys the De- 
mand for Surrender 65 

Stuyvesant's Epitaph 67 

William Penn {Portrait and 

Autograph) 68 

The Middle Colonies (yl/(?/). . 70 

King Charles II 72 

The Second Home of William 

Penn in Philadelphia ... 74 
Penn Treating with the In- 
dians 76 

Indian Receipt 79 

Indian Belt of Beads 82 

Fort and Town of Mackinac. 85 
Indians Gathering Wild Rice 87 
Indian Peace-Pipe 88 



lO 



ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS 



Indian Method of iJroiling 

I*"ish 90 

Marquette's Grave 93 

Robert Cavalier de La Salle. . 95 
The French Fleet on the Lou- 
isiana Coast 96 

King Louis XIV 9S 

Territory Settled by the 

French {^/ap) 100 

Bienville, Governor of Loui- 
siana 102 

Daniel Boone {Porhail nnd 

Autograph) 103 

Fording the Potomac on the 

Way to the Northwest. . . . 104 
A Settler's Hut in the Shenan- 
doah Valley 105 

Pioneers Accosted by Indians 107 

Fort at Boonesborough 112 

Floating down the Ohio 114 

Simon Kenton i iS 

Lord Dunmore 119 

Indians Gloating over their 

Prisoners 122 

Indians in Council 124 

Indian Weapons 126 

George Rogers Clark 12S 

Boone's Trail and Clark's 

Campaign ( J/(//) .... 1 29 

Captain Helm Surrendering 
Fort Vincennes to the Eng- 
lish 133 

The Sergeant and tlie Drum- 
mer Boy 136 

Ruf us Putnam 1 39 

George Washington 140 

The Marietta Mound 144 

Fort Washington, tiie Begin- 
ning of Cincinnati 146 



PAGE 

Midnight Escape to the Fort 147 
The Ohio River about 1S50. . 14S 
William Clark (^Portrait and 

A utograpli) 150 

Meriwether Lewis {Portrait 

and A tttograph) 151 

Lewis in the Costume of a 

Western Scout 153 

Map Showing Growth of the 

United States west of the 

Mississippi 155 

The City of Washington in 

1S25 15S 

A Missouri \'illage in 1S40.. . 160 
St. Louis about the Time of 

Clark's Death 162 

David Crockett 163 

Daniel Webster Speaking in 

the Senate 167 

Room in the Capitol at Wash- 
ington Used by the House 

of Representatives until 

1S59 169 

The Alamo 171 

Railroad Travel in Crockett's 

Day 172 

Sam Houston {Portrait and 

A utograp/i) 1 74 

Aiidrew Jackson 17S 

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna iSi 

Texan Cowboys 1S2 

Lone Star Flag of the Te.xas 

Republic 1S3 

The Present Capitol of Texas 1S5 

Captain John A. Sutter iSS 

Examining Sand with a Gold 

Pan 1S9 

Hydraulic Mining for Gold 

at the Present Day 191 



ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS 



II 



PAGE 

Native Californians Lassoing 
a Wild Bear 193 

The Pick Mattock of the Miner 195 

On the Columbia River, Ore- 
gon : Indians Spearing 
Salmon as they come over 
the Falls igy 

" Westward Ho ! " 200 

. In the Famous Assay Oftice, 

Seattle, Washington 203 

Dr. Whitman's Homeat \Vaii- 
f 

latpu, Washington 207 

A Caravan on Its Way to 
California 209 

The Donne r Party Crossing the 
Sierra Mountains in 1846. . 212 

A Settlement at the Foot of 
the Rocky Mountains 213 

Flag of the California Repub- 
lic 215 

Thomas Jefferson 217 

The College of William and 
Mary as It Appears To-day 219 

Williamsburg in Colonial 
Days {Map) 220 

Monticello, Jefferson's Home 222 

Jefferson Reading to the 
Committee the First Draft 
of the Declaration 225 

The Autograph of Jefferson 227 

The University of Virginia at 
the Time of Jefferson's 
Death 22S 

James Madison. ... 230 

Independence Hall, Philadel- 
phia 232 

Chair and Table Used by 
Washington as President of 
the Federal Convention. . . . 234 



PAGE 

Madison's Home at Mont- 

peilier 236 

The Autograph of Madison. . 237 
The Great Seal of the United 
States, Adopted in 1782... 238 

Abraham Lincoln. 240 

Sarah Bush Lincoln 243 

Costume Actually Worn by a 
Matron of Illinois in the 
Days of Lincoln's Youth. . . 245 
Lincoln's Surveying Instru- 
ments 247 

Lincoln in 1S57 248 

The Autograph of Lincoln.. . 250 
The National Capitol at 

Washington 252 

Statue of Lincoln in Lincoln 

Park, Chicago 254 

Interior of the Grammar 

School, Stratford-on-.^von 258 
Harvard College in 1720. . . . 259 
The College Yard at Harvard 

To-day 262 

Monument to John Harvard 

at Charlestown, Mass 264 

The Royal Arms of Massa- 
chusetts 265 

Horace Mann 267 

A Schoolroom When Horace 

Mann Was a Boy 269 

Title Page of a Copy of the 

" New England Primer".. 273 
Statue of Horace Mann in 
Front of the State House at 

Boston 275 

Horace Mann School, New 

York City 277 

Mending the Quill Pen 278 

An Old-Fashioned Loom. . . . 280 



12 



ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS 



As Ladies and Gentlemen 
Looked When Mary Lyon 
Was a Girl 282 

Mary Lyon 2S4 

A New England Kitchen. . . . 286 

Mount Holyoke Female Sem- 
inary 289 

The Talcott Arboretum, 
Mount Holyoke College. . . 290 

Samuel G. Howe 293 

Dr. Howe Teaching Laura 
liridgman 296 

Laura Bridgman Teaching a 
Fellow Pupil to Read .... 300 

The Congressional Library at 
Washington 302 

Samuel Armstrong . . 307 

A Cooking Class at Hampton 
Institute 309 

The Barn at Hampton Insti- 
tute 312 

Booker T. Washington 315 



Chapel of Tuskegee Normal 

and Industrial College 316 

John Eliot Preaching to the 

Indians 319 

A Page of Eliot's " Indian 

Primer " 321 

Indian Title Page of the Eliot 

Bible of 1663 324 

Peter Cartwright 327 

A Camp-Meeting Ground of 

the West 332 

Fort Dearborn, the Beginning * 

of Chicago, Illinois, in 1810 336 

Dorothea Lynde Dix 33S 

Visiting a Prison. . ." 340 

Caring for the Wounded on 

the Battlefield 344 

The Old Jail in NewYorkCity 346 

John B. Gough 348 

Audience Cheering John 

Gough in Exeter Hall, 

London 356 



Part I 

PIONEERS OF CIVILIZATION 

The First Migration— Across the Atlantic 

CHAPTER I 

PEDRO MENENDEZ 
1 5 19-1574 

A PIONEER is "one who goes before, as 
into the wilderness, preparing the way 
for others to follow." The wilderness may be 
a forest or a plain never before disturbed by the 
foot of man, or it may be a vast domain of 
knowledge which has lain for centuries un- 
heard of and unknown. In either case some 
one who is brave enough and strong enough to 
overcome the obstacles in the way must take 
the lead. The word pioneer has grown out of 
an old French word \ri.^2in\n'g foot-soldier. 

We are to study about American Pioneers, 
and shall begin with the pioneers of civilization, 
those people who first came from England and 



14 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



Other European countries and settled along the 
Atlantic coast of North America, Afterwards 
pioneers crossed the Alleghany Mountains and 
made settlements in the great valley of the Mis- 
sissippi ; and later still other pioneers pushed 
across the Rocky Mountains and established 




THE OLD SPANISH GATE AT ST. AUGUSTINE 

themselves along the Pacific coast, in California 
and the Oregon country. 

Some of the first settlements in our country 
by the people of Europe were soon given up. 
There was little enough in the new land of 
America to make these early pioneers con- 
tented. It was a struggle just to keep alive. 
The first settlement made and not given up was 
at the place since known as St. Augustine, in 
Florida. This was in the year 1565. In those 



PEDRO MENENDEZ I 5 

far-away days people did not all think alike on 
matters of government and religion, any more 
than they do at the present time. The French 
people were jealous of the Spanish, the Spanish 
of the French ; and both were jealous of the 
English. The constant enmity between the 
Protestants and the Roman Catholics resulted 
in oppressive laws and cruel persecutions. Long 
before the English settled upon the coast of 
North America some French Huguenots, sent 
out by the famous Gaspard de Coligny (co- 
len'ye), of France, tried to make a home for 
themselves at Port Royal, within the boundaries 
of what is now South Carolina. The place was 
soon abandoned, but two years later (1564) 
another settlement, also under the patronage of 
Coligny, was started on the St. John's River, in 
the present state of Florida and called Fort 
Caroline. These colonists were Frenchmen and 
Protestants. The very next year a colony was 
sent over from Spain under Catholic leadership. 
It was commanded by Pedro Menendf ^ de 
Aviles (ma-nen'-deth da a-ve'-les). 

Let us see how and why this new enterprise 
came to be undertaken. Previous to 1565 
Menendez had received permission from the 
King of Spain to make an expedition to the 
New World. He was a cruel soldier and ad- 



l6 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

venturer, but he feigned eagerness to convert 
the Indians in the territory of Florida to the 
Catholic faith. While he was busy getting men 
together and fitting out his ships, news arrived 
in Spain that French Huguenots had made a 
settlement on the American coast, 

Menendez's desire to go on his expedition 
was then increased tenfold. Had not the Pope 
given all Florida to the King of Spain ? No 
other nation had a right to settle there, and of 
all peoples the French Huguenots had the least 
right. Menendez would quickly wipe out the 
little Protestant settlement and found a new 
colony subject to the Spanish king. He laid 
extensive plans, and the king gave him all 
needed help, It was not difficult to get volun- 
teers. Soldiers and adventurers flocked to the 
port; and finally, in the year 1565, Menendez 
set sail with fifteen hundred men and nineteen 
vessels. This was one of the largest companies 
that ever came to this country. 

After much trouble and many delays Menen- 
dez reached the coast of America and found the 
French fleet at the mouth of the river now called 
the St. John's. 

" Whence does this fleet come ?" he asked. 

" From France," was the reply. 

" Are you Catholics or Lutherans ?" 



PEDRO MENENDEZ 



17 



*' We are Lutherans of the new religion. Who 
are you ? " inquired the French in their turn. 

" I am Pedro Menendez, General of the fleet 
of the King of Spain, Don Philip the Sec- 
ond." 

Then he told them that his orders were to 
hang and behead all Lutherans and that he 
should obey his instructions. The battle began ; 
but the French fleet got away, and its destruc- 
tion was for a time postponed. 

Menendez, with his large company, sailed 
south thirty or forty miles and found a beautiful 
plain bordering on a small bay, about two miles 
from the main coast. Here he landed his men 
and began to build a town. He named it St. 
Auorustine. 

Meanwhile, he by no means forgot his foes, 
the Huguenots. He reorganized his army and 
marched five hundred men overland, across 
swamps and through 
forests, to the St. 
John's River. Some- 
times they floundered 
waist deep in the 
mud ; sometimes they 
hacked their way 
through palmetto 
thickets. When they st. mark's castle, st. augustine 




i8 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



Stopped to rest at night, " their bed was the 
spongy soil, and their tent the overhanging 
clouds." 

Early one morning the Spaniards attacked 
the French in P^ort Caroline. Menendez gave 
no quarter. " One hundred and forty-two per- 




FRENCH SOLDIERS ATTACKING THE SPANISH luRl 



sons were slain in and around the fort, and their 
bodies lay heaped together on the bank of the 
river." The Spaniards pursued the fugitives 
who escaped, and all but the women and chil- 
dren were put to the sword. The colony was 
utterly destroyed, and no other attempt was 
made by the French to colonize on that coast. 



PEDRO MENENDEZ I9 

Spain was now supreme in her province of 
Florida. 

When the Spaniards first went to Florida, the 
Indians were friendly ; but as time passed, the 
new comers treated the natives so badly that 
their friendship changed to savage hate. After 
a time, when the cruelty of Menendez became 
known in France, one Dominique de Gourgues 
(goorg), who had been ill-treated by the Span- 
iards on the Mediterranean Sea, fitted out three 
vessels and sailed for Florida to chastise the 
murderers and avenge the cruel destruction of his 
fellow-countrymen. The Indians in great num- 
bers flocked to his aid, and again the glades of 
northern Florida were drenched with blood. 
Indian warriors and French soldiers togfether 
meted out swift destruction to the Spaniards. 
The colony on the St. John's, which the Span- 
iards had planted on the ground of old Fort 
Caroline, was wiped out. But these scenes are 
too terrible to dwell upon. Let us cover the 
sad picture and be thankful that we do not live 
in times of such cruel and barbarous practices. 

Menendez's settlement at St. Augustine con- 
tinued and grew into a prosperous city. It is 
now three and a half centuries old, and has the 
distinction of being the first city in the United 
States founded by Europeans. What changes 



20 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



the world, especially the New World, has seen 
during this time ! Instead of engaging in wars, 
we are now beginning to settle disputes by arbi- 
tration. Roman Catholics and Protestants are 
living side by side, no longer enemies, but 
friends. Many thousands of emigrants are 
every year flocking to these shores from all 
parts of the world, and here they make a home 
for themselves and their children. Ours is not 
only a land of plenty, but a land of good-will. 




¥"— 



A SPANISH SHIP ON THE FLORIDA COAST 



CHAPTER II 

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN 
1567-1635 • 

/^NE bright day over three hundred and fifty 
years ago a company of white men and 
Indians stood on the summit of the mountain 
that overlooks the city of Montreal. Did they 
see a beautiful city with well-laid streets, fine 
buildings, lofty churches, and busy factories 
spread out below their feet ? Did they see be- 
yond the city a broad river on which ships, large 
and small, were hastening to and fro ? Did they 
see in the distance villages, farmhouses, and cul- 
tivated fields ? A city, if it could be called a 
city, was there, and the river was there ; but the 
churches, the factories, the wharves, the ships, 
the green fields were not. They looked down 
on the top of a great forest which spread itself 
out over hundreds and hundreds of miles. Al- 
most without a break it stretched southward to 
the Gulf of Mexico, eastward to the Atlantic, 
northward to the frozen lands of the Polar sea, 
and westward to the plains of the Mississippi. 



22 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



The white men in this Httle band of observers 
were Frenchmen — the first white people to come 
up the great river of Canada. They had been 
sent out to build a new France in the coun- 
try of which such wonderful stories had been 

told by the Spaniards who 
had discovered it. Their 
leader was Jacques Car- 
tier (kar-tya'), a bold 
sailor, who was not afraid 
of the dangers of the seas 
or the mysteries of the 
forests. Their attendants 
were the inhabitants of 
the Indian village of 
Hochelaga (ho-shel'a-ga). 
This strange town was 
then the most populous 
settlement on the river ; 
and to-day its successor, Montreal, is still the 
largest city on the St. Lawrence, as that same 
river now is called. 

In his journey up the river, Cartier had been 
welcomed at all the villages on its banks. One 
Indian after another had said, " No, this is not 
the largest village. There is a greater one be- 
yond." When Cartier said that he was going 
to see it for himself, his new friends tried to hold 




JACQUES CAUriER 
From the painting by Th. Hatnei^ 
after the original preserved at 
St. Malo 



SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN 23 

him back. " They are our enemies," they said. 
"They are very powerful. They will destroy 
you." 

But the truth was, the Indians did not want 
to share with the inhabitants of Hochelaga the 
wonderful sharp knives and hatchets which Car- 
tier had brought with him. They had soon 
learned that steel hatchets were much superior 
to stone hatchets, and perhaps they had already 
dreamed of a victory that they might win over 
their old enemies. 

As Cartier could not be frightened by stories 
of hostile tribes, the Indians tried another plan. 
One morning a canoe came out to the ships. In 
it were three Indians disguised as devils. They 
were dressed in black-and-white dog skins. 
Their faces were painted with soot. On their 
heads were horns three feet long. As the canoe 
floated by, the leader chanted a long address. 
" Coudouaguy (coo-doo-a'-gi) will destroy you," 
he said. " He will send tempests and snows 
and drifting ice, and you will be destroyed and 
your ships." 

The Indians frightened themselves so well 
that they fainted when they reached the shore, 
but Indian devils could not terrify Jacques Car- 
tier, He called out to the Indians on the bank 
that their eod was a oood-for-nothing; and could 



24 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



not harm those who believed in Christ. Then, 
as soon as he could get ready, he weighed 
anchor and sailed away. 

Cartier received any but a hostile welcome at 
Hochelaofa. The Indians had never seen white 




WIGWAM IN THE CANADIAN FOREST IN 184O 



men before, nor boats with wings. " Surely," 
they thought, " these men with bright faces 
must be gods." They hastened to honor them 
with every attention that Indian courtesy could 
devise. When Cartier and his men, dressed in 
their best, landed from their boats, they were met 
by a band of warriors and escorted to the village. 
There, they were seated in the center of the 



SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN 2$ 

great public square, while the Indians squatted 
around them row behind row, "just as if," Car- 
tier wrote in his journal, "we were going to act 
a play." Then a strange procession came from 
the wigwams. Several strong warriors brought 
in their arms their helpless old chief. Others 
carried sick men, sick women, sick children. 
Some led blind men, some supported lame men. 
All were laid at the white man's feet. What did 
they expect ? They thought that he would heal 
them. 

Cartier was troubled. He was only a bluff 
sailor ; he was not even a physician. Surely he 
was no god. However, he did the best he could 
to relieve their sufferings and then knelt and 
offered a prayer and made the sign of the cross 
over them. Afterwards he distributed the pres- 
ents that had been brought up from the ship ; 
to every man and to every woman and child he 
gave a knife or a hatchet, beads or a ring. 

The visit over, Cartier went back to his ship, 
sailed down the river, and built a fort where he 
and his men spent the winter. In the spring he 
returned to France ; and Canada, except for 
occasional visits from hunters and adventurers, 
was left to its Indian inhabitants for eighty years. 

Then again a strange ship came sailing up the 
St. Lawrence. It was commanded by Samuel 



26 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 




de Champlain, a French soldier, who had alread}' 
made three trips to the New World. He hoped 
that now at last a permanent settlement could 
be made in the wilderness, where men could 

brinof their wives 
and children and 
build homes and 
plant gardens. It 
would be hard work, 
he knew ; but he 
was not afraid of 
hard work. They 
would have trouble, 
perhaps famine and 
suffering ; but he 
was not the kind 
of man to be discouraged by dangers and 
hardships. 

The party landed at a spot where the St. 
Lawrence River narrows and the bluffs rise high 
on either side. Soon the echoes were giving 
back the ring of axes and the crash of falling- 
trees. And it was not long before the men had 
built three houses for dwellings, a larger one for 
a store-house, a tower for doves, and platforms 
for cannon, and enclosed all by a strong, wooden 
wall, which they surrounded by a deep trench 
filled with water, Champlain called his fortOue- 



SAMl'KI. OK ClIAMri.AIN 

From the painting by Tit. Hanul, after the 

Moncornet portrait 



SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN 27 

bee. The name he borrowed from the Indian 
language. It means a narrowing. 

In the fall the ship went back to France, and 
Champlain and twenty-eight men were left to 
spend the winter in the wilderness. The days 
grew short and shorter. The wind blew cold 
from the north. Snow and ice drove the pioneers 
into the fort, where they huddled around their 
fires. No winter such as this had they ever 
known in sunny France. Would it ever end ? 
Until the latter part of the winter they kept their 
health. Then one fell sick, and then another 
and another. Then one died. After that the 
men carried their comrades one by one out of 
the fort and laid them away, until in the spring 
only eight were left. 

As the lonely days went by, how anxiously, 
the first thing in the morning, must each man 
have looked down the river ; and how constantly, 
as he was busy about his work, must he have 
looked up to see if a sail had not yet appeared 
on the horizon. At last a ship did come, and 
it brought colonists and fresh provisions. Their 
friends in France had not forgotten them. 

During the winter Champlain had made the 
acquaintance of some Indians and had promised 
that in the spring he would take the war-path 
with them. Their enemies lived far to the south 



28 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

in what is now the state of New York, and 
Champlain was anxious to explore the country. 
So after the new colonists had arrived at Quebec, 
he went off up the river with the Indians. Cham- 
plain soon discovered that an Indian's word could 
not be trusted. He had been told that the whole 
journey could be made in boats. But it was not 
many days before he heard the roar of falling 
water and saw the river rushing madly before 
him. The Indians landed, picked up their light 
canoes, and carried them on their shoulders to 
the quiet water above. It was a different matter 
to carry through the forests a heavy European 
boat. Champlain sent back his boat and most 
of his men to Quebec, and he and four others 
pushed on with the Indians. 

Day after day they paddled over rivers and 
lakes never before visited by white men. At 
night they lay down with the Indians on the 
shore ; and in the morninof, after tellino- their 
dreams, they paddled on again. The Indians 
firmly believed that the day's events were fore- 
told by the visions of the night before. As they 
expected that the guns of the Frenchmen would 
win them victory, they were especially anxious 
to know what kind of dreams Champlain had. 
Every morning they asked him about his dreams 
and were greatly disappointed when he said that 



SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN 



29 



he had not dreamed at all. Finally one morning 
he told them that in a dream he had seen three 
Iroquois warriors drowning in the lake. The 
Indians were jubilant, and immediately began to 
prepare for battle. 




After the original in Chainplaiii' s " Nouvelle France " 

CHAMI'LAIN'S attack on the IROQUOIS FORT 

The chief brouo-ht out a bundle of sticks and 
planted them in the ground just as we would 
arrange a company of toy soldiers. The tall 
sticks represented the chiefs, and the short sticks 



30 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

were the warriors. Without any words of ex- 
planation, the Indians carefully examined the 
sticks and then arranofed themselves in the same 
positions. In this order they were to go Into 
battle. 

The Indians decided that Champlain was a 
good dreamer, for in a few days they came across 
the enemy. The victory was an easy one, for 
the Iroquois were so astonished by the sound of 
the oruns and so terrified because the balls went 
so easily through their arrow-proof armor that 
they soon ran away. 

A year or two after this expedition, a French 
adventurer came down the river from the Inte- 
rior. He had a wonderful story to tell. He 
said that he had gone so far up the river that he 
had come to the other side of the continent and 
that It would take only seventeen days' journey 
to reach salt water. Nearly every Spaniard, 
Frenchman, and Eno-llshman who had crossed 
the Atlantic had sought in vain to find an open- 
ing through to the Pacific. Champlain thought 
that he now had a chance to have his name hon- 
ored In all Europe as the discoverer of this 
much desired passage. Taking the adventurer 
alone with him, he set out in hloh siilrits. 

It was easy paddling up the St. Lawrence; 
but after the Ottawa was reached, rapids ap- 



SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN 



31 



peared ahead. As the river grew narrower, the 
rapids became more frequent and the difficulties 
greater. Sometimes the woods were so thick 
that Champlain could not get his boats through 




From an engraving 0/ 1841 

WORKING A CANOE UI' A RAPID OF THE ST. LAWRENCE 



them and had to pull the canoes up the current 
by ropes fastened to trees on the bank. Finally 
they came across a band of Indians who looked 
at the travelers in amazement. How could 
strangers come up from the sea by a course over 
which even they could go only with great diffi- 
culty ? " These white men must have fallen 
from the clouds," they said to one another. 



32 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

" The French chief can do everything. All that 
we have heard of him must be true." 

When the Frenchmen reached the settle- 
ments, they were received with honors, for re- 
ports of Champlain's kindness and fairness had 
spread even to that far country. When he 
asked for boats and guides to take him farther 
to the country of the Nepissings, his hosts re- 
plied that the tribes were hostile and the rapids 
too many. 

" Nicholas has been there," replied Cham- 
plain ; "and he did not find the road or the 
people so bad as you have said." 

"Nicholas," demanded the chief, "did you 
say that you had been to the Nepissings?" 

The adventurer was silent ; then he answered 
slowly, " Yes, I have been there." 

"That is false," returned the chief. "You 
know that you slept here among my children 
every night and rose again every morning. If 
you went where you say you went, it must have 
been when you were asleep." 

It was only too true. Nicholas had not seen 
the great sea, but had spent the winter with the 
Indians as the chief had said. He had made up 
the whole story, hoping that he would get hon- 
ors and a fortune for his falsehood. Champlain 
gave up his quest ; but another year he repeated 



SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN 33 

this journey, went farther on, and discovered 
Lake Huron and Lake Ontario. 

When he returned to Quebec, he had greater 
difficulties to overcome than any he had found 
in the wilderness. There were continual quar- 
rels between the merchants and the hunters, 
and between those who believed in one kind of 
religion and those who believed in another. 
Once the fort was captured by the English, and 
Champlain was carried a captive to London. 
After peace had been made, he sailed for 
Quebec; and there, on Christmas Day, 1635, he 
died. 

Champlain was one of the noblest pioneers 
that came to the New World in the early times. 
The Indians trusted him as they trusted few 
white men. He always kept his word with 
them and was honorable in all his dealings. He 
treated them like men, while most of the other 
colonists considered them little better than 
beasts. The wisdom of his course was well 
shown in the after years. The French lived at 
peace with their Indian neighbors, while the 
English colonists to the south were constantly 
listening for the terrible war-whoop and were 
never safe from attack. 



CHAPTER III 



^XCHESAPEAKE BAY 



JOHN SMITH 
1579-1631 

nr^HE Spaniards and the French were not 

the only European peoples who wanted 

to get land in the New World. England also 

had sent out expeditions 
for exploration and settle- 
ment, but had not been at 
all successful in crettincr 
colonists to remain in 
the forests of America. 
A year or two before 
Champlain came to Can- 
ada, some people in Eng- 
land made a determined 
effort to start a colony 
and interested about a 
hundred men to set out 
for the unknown world. Some went because 
they were fond of adventure. All hoped to 
obtain a fortune, for wonderful stories had been 
told of the abundance of gold and jewels there. 




James'o" 



\/Cape Charles 
Pr Comfort 

CapeHenry 



JOHN SMITH 



35 



They sailed in three vessels, and in the early 
spring reached that part of the new country 
known as Virginia. They had had a long, 
stormy voyage ; 



and the land with its brio-ht 

C5 





From the painting hy Chapman 

THE LANUlNc; OF THE SETTLERS AT JAMESTOWN 

flowers and its fresh, green leaves seemed most 
pleasant to them. Therefore they named the 
point of land that they first saw Point Comfort. 
For three weeks they explored the banks of a 
river, which they called the James, after King 
James I of England, seeking the best situation 
for a settlement. At last they decided upon a 
small peninsula which was about as bad a place 
as they could have chosen. The ground was 



36 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

low and marshy, and, when the tide was in, a 
part of it was covered with water. However, it 
was an easy place to defend if the Indians 
should be troublesome ; and the settlers did not 
know that the fogs from the river and the gases 




BUILDING TENTS AND BOOTHS AT JAMESTOWN 

that would arise from the damp earth under the 
hot summer sun would prove to be as dangerous 
a foe as the Indians. 

In a short time the tents and booths of James- 
town made a brave showing against the dark 
green of the forest. But difficulties arose al- 
most at once. Most of the settlers were of 
the class called "gentlemen." They had never 
been accustomed to work in England, and they 



JOHN SMITH 



37 



did not know how to work in America. The 
president of the colony and the men who had 
been chosen for councilors were seltish and 
looked out for their own interests first. i he 
Indians were hos- 
tile ; and, worse 
than all, a terrible 
disease attacked 
the colony from 
which about half 
their number died. 
In their great 
need, the settlers 
turned to ont' 
amonor them who, 
because of the 
jealousy of the 
president and his 
friends, had been 
kept from his 
rightful place in 
the government of 
the colony. John Smith seemed the only man 
who had energy, will, and wit enough to keep 
the colony from destruction. He was a true 
genius ; a man who could pull himself out 
of any difficulty, no matter how great, who 
always did the best he could under all c:r- 




CATTAIX jnilN SMI 111 
Copied from the original engraving in John 
Smithes ''^History of New England, Vir- 
ginia, and the Summer Isles " published in 
1624 



38 AMERICAN PlOxXEERS 

cumstances and could make other men do their 
best, also. 

John Smith was at this time twenty-eight 
years old, but he had already had many wonder- 
ful adventures and had seen still more wonderful 
sights. When a young boy, he caused his par- 
ents and guardians a great deal of trouble be- 
cause he was so determined to go out into the 
world to seek his fortune. Not satisfied with 
the adventures he could find in England, at the 
very first opportunity he set out for the conti- 
nent of Europe. 

In those days strange things that could not 
possibly happen at the present time were com- 
mon occurrences. One of Smith's first experi- 
ences ouofht to have satisfied even his love for 
adventure. He set sail in a ship bound for 
Italy. His fellow-passengers were a supersti- 
tious company who were on their way to visit the 
churches and shrines of Rome. A terrible storm 
came on, and they decided that it was caused by 
some one on board who wished them harm. 
Smith w^as the only passenger who was an Eng- 
lishman, so he was judged the culprit. He was 
thrown overboard and left to drown or get to 
land in the best way he could. Fortunately 
Smith was a good swimmer, and he reached a 
little uninhabited island where he was picked up 



JOHN SMITH 



39 



by a pirate ship. A pirate's trade proved too 
adventurous even for Smith, for he was an 
honest and a kindly man. He left the ship at 
the first port reached and then wandered from 
place to place in southern Europe. Finally, he 
went to fight the Turks. Once he was sold 



HisCom6at witkGRVALGO CaptofTkreefimdredHorjemcn 




Froii! "History of New England^ I'irgiiua, and the Sn>inner Isles" 

into slavery, but he escaped after a time and 
asfain reached England, a little while before the 
colonists set out for Virginia. He joined the 
company ; but during the voyage he was 
made a prisoner on the charge of wishing 
to "usurp the government, murder the coun- 
cil, and make himself king." He was soon 
acquitted ; and, as we have seen, it was not 



40 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

long before the colonists had need to make him 
their leader. 

As soon as Smith had been appointed presi- 
dent, he set energetically to work to improve 
conditions in the colony. It was too early for 
the crops to be harvested. The supplies that 
had been left by the ships had not been carefully 
used. The settlers were already starving. Food 
must be provided, and Smith, with seven men, 
went down the river to an Indian village to buy 
corn. 

The Indians had all this time been watchine 
the white faces at Jamestown. They knew how 
things were going on there, about as well as the 
Englishmen themselves did. They knew how 
the crops were coming on, and they knew how 
near starvation the settlers were. They had not 
formed a very high opinion of the strangers, and 
they were not at all anxious to share the land 
with them. So they would not be tempted by the 
beads and trinkets that the Englishmen offered 
in exchange for corn. They refused to sell. 

Smith ordered his men to fire their muskets 
over the heads of the Indians, and they ran off 
in fright. When they found that " the great 
thunder" had hurt no one, they returned in full 
force to attack the strangers. With them they 
brought an image of their god, Okee. Okee 



JOHN SMITH 41 

was a terrible creature, and the Indians were 
greatly afraid of him. He had a shrine on the 
York River, and the Indians never paddled by 
without throwinor offerincrs into the stream and 
hurryinor away as fast as they could. Surely, 
they thought, Okee will destroy the white faces. 
Instead, Smith captured the hideous stuffed 
image, and then the Indians with great rever- 
ence sold to him all the corn that he would buy. 
• The cool, clear breezes of the autumn brought 
health to the sick colonists and a better state of 
affairs at Jamestown. But meanwhile Smith's 
enemies became more active. They accused him 
of not carrying out the suggestions of the com- 
pany, which had sent them to America to make 
a careful search for a passage through the land 
to the " South Seas." So, as there was no longer 
any direct need for Smith to stay in Jamestown, 
he offered to lead an expedition towards the 
mountains. He never found the South Seas, 
but he learned many things about the natives 
and met with many startling adventures. 

Where the Chickahominy River grew shallow. 
Smith was forced to leave his boat and to pro- 
ceed in a canoe, with only two companions. Be- 
fore long he landed and struck off into the 
woods, where he was taken captive by a large 
band of Indians under a chief called Opechanca- 



42 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

noiigh (o-pech-an-ca'-no). They at once pre- 
pared to put him to death, but Smith's wits saved 
him for a time. A law had been made at James- 
town that no one should go out into the forest 
without a compass. This was a necessary rule, 
for there were no roads throuorh the woods and 
nothing to tell direction or places. Smith, of 
course, had his compass with him. It was set 
in an ivory frame and had a glass on both sides. 
He showed it to the chief and explained how he 
could find his way through the thickest woods 
because the needle always pointed to the north. 
The Indian was impressed more by what he saw 
than by what he heard. There in a box was a 
strange, quivering needle. He could see it 
plainly enough. He could put his finger upon 
it, but he could not touch it. Marvelous ! 

Smith then told him something about the 
shape of the earth and about the movements of 
the stars in the heavens. Probably the Indian 
understood very little of Smith's talk, but he 
got the idea that the compass ruled the universe 
and that Smith ruled the compass. Therefore 
the captive must be a powerful man and too 
important to be put to death in the woods. 
At last Opechancanough decided to take him 
to the great chief Powhatan (pow-ha-tan'). 

Powhatan was for a lono- time undecided what 



JOHN SMITH 



43 



he should do with his captive. Smith was kept 
a close prisoner, but was kindly treated and well 
fed. This was not because the Indians were 
friendly to him, but because they wished him to 
be in good condition to endure torture. Many 




From an olJ engraving 

CAPTAIN SMITH RESCUED BY POCAHONTAS 

long discussions took place in the Indian coun- 
cil. At last it was decided that if he were put 
out of the way, it would be very easy to get rid 
of the other pale faces down the river. A day 
was appointed for the execution, and great prep- 
arations were made for the event. 

The chief sat on his throne with his warriors 



44 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

and his family about him. Smith was bound 
and laid on the ground, with his head upon two 
stones. Two Indians with uplifted clubs stood 
ready to pound out his brains. Powhatan had 
already begun to lift his hand for the signal to 
strike when there was a rustle in the group of 
silent women who sat around him. A young 
Indian girl ran out to the prisoner, threw her 
arms about his neck, placed her head above 
his, and claimed him for her own. So, according 
to Indian custom. Smith was saved only to be- 
come the slave of a twelve-year-old girl — to 
make toys and trinkets for the little Poca- 
hontas. But after two days Powhatan sent him 
back to Jamestown with a message to his people. 
It was winter when Captain Smith reached the 
settlement, and there he found everything in 
commotion. The principal men had seized the 
boat and were planning to return to Europe 
and leave the rest to their fate. Smith acted 
promptly. He compelled the deserters to re- 
main, but they were still too powerful to allow 
him to assume his rightful place in the govern- 
ment of the colony. Conditions went from bad 
to worse, and again the people nearly starved. 
Finally Smith again became the head of the 
colony. He told the men that they could no 
longer depend upon the Indians for their food. 



JOHN SMITH 



45 



They must plant their own cornfields and every 
one must work. "You must obey," he said; 
and "he that will not work shall not eat." 

Of course there was much grumbling, for 
many of the colonists had never done work of 
this kind before. 
Smith was able to 
make good his 
promise, however; 
and the fields were 
planted, and the 
crops were har- 
vested. He also 
set the men to 



fellin 



e trees and 



building a fort as a 
protection against 
the Indians. This 
exertion blistered 
their tender hands 
and called forth 
more erumblins 




RUINS OF THE TOWER OF THE CHURCH 
BUILT AT JAMESTOWN BY THE EARLY 
SETTLERS 



The ringr of the axes 



was 



accompanied by the sound of many oaths. So 
many oaths were used that Smith made a law 
that, for every oath a man uttered through the 
day, he should have a bucket of water poured 
down his sleeve when he returned to the settle- 
ment at night. 



46 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



By these and other forceful acts, Smith saved 
the colony from destruction. He constantly en- 
deavored to live not for himself, but, as he pro- 
claimed was the duty of every man, "each to 
help other." One of the Virg-inia colonists gave 
a very truthful picture of the character of John 
Smith, when he called him a man that " never 
allowed more for himself than his soldiers with 
him ; that upon no danger would send them 
where he would not lead them himself ; that 
would never see us want what he either had or 
could by any means get us ; that would rather 
want than borrow, or starve than not pay ; that 
loved action more than words, and hated false- 
hood and controversies worse than death ; whose 
adventures were our lives and whose loss our 
deaths." 

The good men admired him, but the selfish 
and dishonorable hated him because he was so 
unlike themselves. His enemies sent untrue re- 
ports about him to England, and he was com- 
manded to return. Later he made other voyages 
to the New World, but he never went back to 
Virginia. 




CHAPTER IV 

WILLIAM BLACKSTONE 
i6oo(?)-i675 

A BOUT twenty years after John Smith left 
'^ ^ Jamestown, fourteen ships sailed one after 
another into Massachusetts Bay, On board was 
a large company of Englishmen, who, with their 
wives and children, had left homes and friends 
in their native land to find new homes and a 
new country in the forests of America. Though 
many of these colonists settled at different 
points along the New England coast, the gov- 
ernor, John Winthrop, and most of the princi- 
pal men decided to remain at the place which is 
now known as Charlestown. 

The company had had a long voyage of about 
eighteen weeks. It seemed so good to be free 
from the cramped, bad-smelling cabins, that al- 
most any spot on land was a pleasant place to 
them. They soon decided upon the different 
sites for their homes and quickly raised booths 
and tents for shelter. The colonists who re- 
mained at Charlestown were a little hasty in 



48 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

choosing this site for their settlement. There 
was only one spring of water anywhere near, and 
that was on the beach, where it was covered by 
the sea when the tide was in. The spring could 
not supply water enough for all their needs, and 
what water it did furnish was brackish. 




THE SETTLERS (IKidSlNC, A SITE ON THE CHARLES RIVER 

Moreover, many of the colonists had never 
been accustomed to any privations, and grew 
weak and ill during their long journey. In the 
new land, the strange climate, the hard work, 
the poor food, and the bad water were too much 
for them. Men, women and children sickened 
and died ; and great sadness settled down upon 
the company who had been so happy such a short 



WILLIAM BLACKSTONE 49 

time before. One day a stranger, an English- 
man, made them a visit. He told them that on 
the peninsula just across the river they would 
find an abundance of pure springs. For many 
years he had lived there alone ; but now he in- 
vited them all to share with him the hills, the 
meadows, and the springs of Shawmut. Thomas 
C. Amory has told the story in -the following 
words : 

" Unused to hardships, sorrowing 
For friends the seas divide, 
They droop and sicken, one by one, 
Even their physician died. 

" Their barks but scanty food supplied, 
Untilied as yet the fields ; 
And soon to fevered lips, the spring 
No more refreshment yields. 

" It was a sorry sight to see, 

To make one's heart to bleed ; 
How could a Christian man unmoved 
Regard such urgent need ? 

" His springs and brooks in copious streams 
With crystal waters welled ; 
He gave them all they wished and more, — 
Naught but his farm withheld." 

Governor Winthrop gladly accepted the invi- 
tation ; and the settlers moved their families, 
their cattle, and even their houses, across the 

4 



50 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



bay. In this way began the settlement of 
Shawmut, or Boston, as soon afterwards it was 
called. 

Who was the stranger ? and what was he 
doine alone in the New World ? His name was 




Slliri'I.NG WHARVES AT 150S10N TO-DAY 

William Blackstone. He was a graduate of an 
English college and had been ordained a min- 
ister in the English Church. It was a time 
when English people were growing dissatisfied 
with the way in which God was worshiped in 
their land. Some thought that one method 
should be followed and others, another entirely 
different. Few were willing that others should 
worship God except in the way they themselves 




Thomas Bail 

STATUE OF BLACKSTONE 
Modeled for the Boston Memorial Society 



52 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



thought right. Therefore, there were many 
bitter discussions, much hard feeHng, great 
unhappiness and sorrow. Some people were 
obHged to leave England to escape persecution. 
Others left because all such disturbances were 
distasteful to them. Among these was William 
Blackstone ; and when Winthrop arrived Black- 
stone had probably been 
in America about seven 
years. 

On the south side of 
the highest hill at Shaw- 
mut, where the Boston 
Common now is, he had 
built a cottage and laid 
out a farm with an or- 
chard. Here, far away 
from all controversies, 
at peace with the Indians 
and at peace with himself, he had cultivated 
roses, raised apples, and read his books. 

William Blackstone's peace was soon dis- 
turbed. The story is told that Governor Win- 
throp at first decided to take possession of all the 
land at Shawmut, because the king had given the 
whole of this region to him and his companions. 
Blackstone stoutly urged his right to the land 
which he had so long occupied. He said that 





fj 




Sm 






MM 


i '^ 


a^M 




1",-:;' ' 


^B 


L \ 






&*■'« tj 


" 




HE; 


M 




1 


^ 


i 


1 



GOVKKNUK WINTHROP 



WILLIAM BLACKSTONE 53 

if the King of England could give away land in 
New England because a hundred and thirty 
years before two Englishmen had sailed along 
its coasts, he himself surely owned and could 
keep the land that he had cultivated for seven 
years. Governor Winthrop finally changed his 
mind and set aside fifty acres for the use of 
William Blackstone and his children forever. 

Blackstone had othei* reasons for being un- 
happy among his new neighbors. They had left 
England so that they might have more freedom 
to worship God in their own way, but they did 
not leave behind their controversies or their dis- 
likes. Discussions over this and that matter 
were common. If any new settler brought new 
opinions, he found that he could have no more 
freedom in America than he had had in Encrland. 
Blackstone took no part in the wranglings, which 
o-rew more and more distasteful to him. " I left 
England," he said, "because I did not like the 
Lord-Bishops ; but I cannot join with you, be- 
cause I would not be under the Lord-Brethren." 
He had found that Puritan ministers were no 
more ready to give liberty and freedom than 
were the bishops of the Church of England. 

When he could endure it no longer, Blackstone 
sold his land, bought cattle with the money, 
packed up his goods, and pushed off into the 



54 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



wilderness. What paths he took, and how he 
eot his animals over the streams and throuo-h 
the forest, we do not know ; but he traveled 
until he reached a rich piece of land now in the 

state of Rhode 
Island. Here, on 
the banks of the 
river afterward 
called by his 
name, at the place 
now called Lons- 
dale, he built a 
new cottage, and 
planted a new 
orchard. His farm 
he called Study 
Hill anci his cot- 
tage Study Hall. 
William Black- 
stone did not 
keep entirely away from the noise of the rapidly 
erowinir settlement at Boston. He made fre- 
quent visits to his old home, traveling back and 
forth on a cream-colored steer which he had 
trained to carry a saddle. When he returned 
from one of these visits, he did not come alone. 
With him was his bride, and together they lived 
happily for many years. 




THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS OF MASSACHUSETTS 
AM) KHODE ISLAND 



WILLIAM BLACKSTONE 



55 



Neighbors began to arrive even at Study Hill. 
More and more people kept coming over from 
England, 
and so new 
clearings 
were contin- 
ually being 
made in the 
forests. Ro- 
gerWilliams, 
who, in 1636, 
had been 
turned out of 
the colony of 
Massachu- 
setts Bay, 
had started, 
a little to 
the south of 
Study Hill, 
a settlement 
which he 
called Prov- 
idence. To this settlement anybody and every- 
body was welcome, no matter what his belief. 

At the foot of Study Hill a road was built, 
because at that point was the best ford across 
the river. Over this road travelers went back 




MONUMENT TO ROGER WILLIAMS AT 
PROVIDENCE, R. I. 



56 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

and forth from the settlements up the river to the 
larger town below. William Blackstone lived 
at peace with them all. He was willing that 
they should have their opinions, and they were 
willing that he should have his. He welcomed 
friends at his fireside and he was welcomed at 
theirs. Frequently, mounted on his steer, he 
went to preach on Sunday at Providence. There 
were always a great many boys and girls in his 
congregation ; perhaps, because of what he 
brought them rather than because of his sermon. 
He was very fond of children, and when he went 
to Providence he always filled his saddle-bags 
with apples from his orchard at Study Hill. 

Blackstone was a good friend of all the In- 
dians round about, and up to the time of his 
death the settlers of Massachusetts and Rhode 
Island had little trouble with their red neio^hbors. 
But after his death the Indians grew jealous of 
the whites. They saw their hunting grounds 
occupied more and more each year and feared 
that soon nothing would be left for them. They 
determined to destroy all the English settlements 
and get rid of the pale faces for ever. A terrible 
Indian war broke out, and a fierce battle was 
fought near Study Hill. Blackstone's house 
was burned, and with it the library of books that 
he had brought over from England with such 



WILLIAM BLACKSTONE 



57 



care. There were more than two hundred 
volumes — a large library for those times. 

Where Study Hall once stood, is now a great 
cotton mill. Where once was heard the ripple 
of the river, the rustle of the trees, and the song 
of the birds, is now heard the whirl and rattle 
of machinery, the hum of a multitude of voices, 
and all the bustle and hurry of business life. 
Near the walls of the mill is a monument with 
this inscription : " The grave of the Rev. William 
Blackstone, founder of the town of Boston and 
the first white settler of Rhode Island." 




On the Road to Boston 



CHAPTER V 

PETER STUYVESANT 
1 602-1 682 

TT was the Dutch who discovered the Hudson 
River, and the Dutch who settled New York. 
Henry Hudson was the first to find the river 
which now bears his name. He himself was an 
Englishman, not a Dutchman ; but he was in 
the employ of the Dutch trading company. 
Hence, he was sailing in a Dutch vessel, under 
the Dutch flag. So we say that the Dutch dis- 
covered the river. 

It came about in this way. In the year 1609, 
two years after the English had made their first 
settlement in Virginia, the Dutch East India 
Company sent Captain Hudson in a vessel called 
The Half Moon, to find a short passage through 
North America to China. After cruising along 
the coast from Newfoundland to Chesapeake 
Bay, he turned back northward, and in Septem- 
ber, he found the mouth of the great river 
that flows down past Albany and New York 
City to the ocean. He did not find the passage 



PETER STUYVESANT 59 

through to China ; but he made a great dis- 
covery, and great results came from it. He him- 
self did not give his name to the river. He 
called it the North River, as he had already 
named the Delaware the South River. Later, 




THE PALISADES OF THE HUDSON RIVER OI'POSI 1 E 
MANHATTAN ISLAND 

South River got its new name from Lord De 
La Warre, and Hudson's name was given to the 
North River. 

It was not till fourteen years after Captain 
Hudson had made his great discovery and 
claimed for Holland all the land between the 
North and the South rivers that the Dutch made 
their first permanent settlement at New Amster- 



6o 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



dam, now New York City. A little later, Peter 
Miniiit became the first governor. He bought 
Manhattan Island of the Indians for trinkets 
valued at about twenty-four dollars. Not even 
millions and millions of dollars could buy it 

to-day. After this 
first Peter, came 
Wouter Van Twil- 
ler, as governor, 
then Wilhelmus 
Kieft, then the last 
and greatest gov- 
ernor of this im- 
portant settlement, 
another Peter — 
Peter Stuyvesant. 
Peter Stuyve- 
sant was a typical 
Dutchman. He 
iv^n^i^J^y was of good 

height and fig- 
ure and dressed 
with great care, wearing a velvet jacket and full 
puffed shirt, and rosettes upon his shoes — or 
rather, a rosette upon one shoe, as he had lost 
a leof in battle and wore a wooden one with 
silver bands. He ruled the colony with a rod 
of iron. Toward the people he was cold, 




PETER STUYVESANT 



6l 



haughty, and passionate ; but he was quick to 
see what should be done and how to do it, and 
always he was independent and willful. 

When the home government ordered him to 
appear personally in Holland, he refused to 
obey and said, " I shall do as I please." With 
equal independence he dispersed a convention 




THE EAST RIVER GATE AND BLOCKHOUSES OF THE STOCKADE 

of deputies assembled in 1653 from the little 
village of New Netherland to demand reforms. 
" We derive our authority from God and the 
company," asserted Stuyvesant, " not from a few 
ignorant subjects." 

When the war broke out between Holland 
and England, that year, how do you suppose he 
made the town secure against aland attack from 



62 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

the north ? He built a stockade, twelve feet 
high, across the island from the North to the 
East rivers, with two blockhouses for gates. 
This line was along what is now Wall Street, 
and the entire village was south of the stockade. 
Two years later Stuyvesant sent a fleet of seven 
vessels and seven hundred men to the Delaware 
and took possession of New Sweden. 

In Stuyvesant's day Manhattan Island was 
occupied by small farms and large forests. In the 
forests, the tanners obtained the bark needed in 
their tan-yards, and the children found chestnuts 
to eat and fine places in which to play " hide and 
seek." The village itself was situated between the 
present " Battery" and Wall Street, and the vil- 
lagers had their gardens near by. Further north, 
Stuyvesant purchased at a very small price a 
large farm, or — to use the Dutch word — bottwerie. 

Few in those days seemed to appreciate the 
great natural advantages of Manhattan Island 
for a large city and for immense commerce. In- 
deed, it has always been difficult to foresee 
where great cities will be likely to grow up. 
There was a time when Newport, Rhode Island, 
had outstripped both Boston and Philadelphia. 
Why has Chicago outgrown St Louis? and why 
has Seattle so quickly become larger than 
Tacoma or even Portland, Oreofon ? 



PETER STUYVESANT 63 

While Stuyvesant was governor, the mer- 
chants of old Amsterdam addressed to the mer- 
chants of New Amsterdam these words : — 
"When your commerce becomes established, 
and your ships ride on every part of the ocean, 
throngs that look toward you with eager eyes 




stuyvesant's "bouwerie" house 

will be allured to embark for your island." How 
true this prophecy became ! Yet its fulfillment 
was long delayed. To-day it is estimated that 
there are in New York City more Germans — 
parents and children — than in any city of Ger- 
many except Berlin, and that there are more Irish 
— parents and children — than in Dublin itself. 
Besides these there are thousands of people who 



64 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

were born in one foreign country or another, all 
over the world. 

But then the colony was poor. It had not in- 
creased in population as had been hoped, and the 
discontented people were clamoring for a gov- 
ernment by the people. Already the English 
had secured everything along the Connecticut 
River, and Stuyvesant saw no door of relief in 
any direction. Moreover, the English king had 
given all this domain to the Duke of York, who 
secretly fitted out a fleet to sail to the shores 
of America. This was in 1664. 

The Duke of York's fleet blockaded New 
Amsterdam and demanded its surrender. Stuy- 
vesant wanted to fight ; but the people knew 
that the town was at the mercy of the English 
and, to avoid bloodshed, proposed to surrender. 
The terms offered by the English were security 
to the people in life, liberty, and property, only 
on condition that they acknowledge the British 
rule. Stuyvesant, dressed in his best velvet 
coat and frilled shirt-front, with his best 
rosette on his shoe, stormed and strutted 
around outside of his little fortifications and 
swore he would never surrender. He flour- 
ished his arms and urged his people to resist 
the invaders, to shoot them down like dogs if 
they dared to come ashore, and to give their 



PETER STUVVESANT 



65 



carcasses to the beasts of the fields and the 
fowls of the air. 

New Amsterdam was in a desperate situation. 




From the painting by Poweli 
STUVVESANT DESTROYS THE DEMAND FOR SURRENDER 

Something must be done and that without de- 
lay. The principal inhabitants assembled in the 
public hall and demanded from Stuyvesant the 
letter which had been sent to him by the com- 



66 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

mander of the English llect. The angry gov- 
ernor thereupon tore up the letter and scattered 
the pieces to the four winds. Then the people 
framed a protest against the governor. A few 
days of parley followed ; and early in Septem- 
ber, 1664, the Dutch government of New Neth- 
erland ceased by a full and complete surrender 
to the English fleet and arms. New Amster- 
dam was then named New York. 

From this time the several towns in the 
colony were permitted to choose their own 
magistrates, and New York was allowed to elect 
its own deputies, with free voice in all public 
affairs. Subsequently the Dutch recaptured the 
place ; but they had held it only a short time 
when the Enorlish attain secured control. Thence- 
forth the colony of New York was one of the 
most powerful and prominent of the English 
colonies upon the Atlantic coast of North 
America. 

The year following his surrender to the Eng- 
lish, Stuyvesant went over to Holland. ' Soon, 
however, he returned to New York and passed 
the remainder of his days on his farm of sixty 
acres or more, wdiich then lay outside the city. 
Beyond this great boinvcric, woods and swamps 
stretched to the northward as far as the little 
village of Harlem. 



PETER STUYVESANT 



67 



Stuyvesant died in Aufyust, 1682 * at the aee 
of eighty years, and was buried in St. Mark's 
Church, New York City. In the outside wall 
of the church still stands the stone that bears 
his epitaph. 






,j IntTiiiVault lies luricd 

/^l PETRUf STUYVESANT. ^ ^ 

idte Captain- Geiierai aiid GoverupninCliiefof Anisterdam 
iiiNevvr-Nelherland now c^tflectNew -"WrTt^x. _ 
aud the DutdxVVe^-Iadia Islands ,died in AX).1672 
£j- aged go years. ^^\^ 



aS 



* Historical researcli fixes the date of Stuyvesant's death as 
1682. The date in the epitaph is therefore incorrect. 



CHAPTER VI 



WILLIAM PENN 
1644-1718 

/^N the fourth of March, 1681, King- Charles 
II of Eneland sio-ned and sealed a charter 

giving- to William Penn the "tract of territory 

between the bay and 
river of Delaware and 
Lord Baltimore's prov- 
ince of Maryland." Wil- 
liam Penn was a Quaker, 
or, as he would have 
said, "a member of the 
Society of Friends." 

The "Friends" were 
a peaceable people, who 
did not believe in wars 
and fiirhtinor, but in the 

y.fn^lUH'Alll doctrine of love and 
C^ //l/jC U//7L^ good- will, simple habits, 

and a sober life. Be- 
cause they refused to serve as soldiers, and 
because they did not believe in many of the 




WILLIAM PENN 69 

laws and customs of the English people, they 
frequently suffered much persecution. It was 
to give them a refuge that William Penn ob- 
tained his charter for a grant of land in America. 

His next step was to advertise for purchasers 
of his land. A company was formed of mer- 
chants and others, mostly Friends, who bought 
from him twenty thousand acres. The price 
paid for the land was twenty English pounds 
for a thousand acres, or ten cents of our money 
for one acre. To-day much of this same land 
could not be bought for ten cents a square foot. 

The first colony came over in 1681 and beg-an 
to build on the site of the present city of Phila- 
delphia. In the summer of the next year William 
Penn himself came over. With about a hundred 
persons he went aboard a small vessel called the 
Welcofiic, Robert Greenway, master, at Deal, 
County of Kent, and sailed away to America. 
The}' were nearly two months on the voyage. 
To add to their other sufferings, that awful 
plague of the old time, small-pox, broke out, 
and day after day one after another died ; till on 
their reaching Upland upon the banks of the 
Delaware, only seventy were left to land in the 
New World. Penn was constant in his attention 
to the sick and did everything in his power to 
aid and encourage them. One of the passengers 



70 



AMKRICAN PIONEERS 



afterwards gave this testimony of his unselfish 
care cUiring that fearful voyage: "The kind 
words of William Penn were very welcome to all 



MAP OF THE 

MIDDLE ATLANTIC 
COLONIES. 







THE MIDDLE COLONIES 



the company. His singular care was shown in 
aiding in various ways many who were sick of 
the small-pox, of which more than thirty died." 



WILLIAM PENN 7I 

The principles upon which Penn founded his 
colony were very different from those of the 
other lin^lish colonies. Here was freedom 
for all men, whether Catholics, Puritans, Episco- 
palians, or Quakers. But in no respect did this 
colony differ from the other colonies more than 
in its treatment of the Indians. Penn's ideas of 
the riohts of the white men and the red men is 
well shown by a quaint writer of a hundred years 
ago. He gives a supposed conversation between 
Penn and King Charles, just before Penn sailed 
for the New World. Ihe story runs as follows : 

" ' Well ', says the King, ' I have sold you a 
valuable province in North America, but I do 
not suppose that you intend to go there yourself.' 

" 'Yes, indeed I do ', replied Penn, 'and I am 
just come to bid thee farewell.' 

" ' What ! venture yourself among the savages 
of North America ? Why, man, they will be 
after you with their bows and arrows and blaz- 
ing torches, in two hours after setting foot upon 
their shores.' 

" ' I think not,' said Penn. 

" ' What security have you against those canni- 
bals ? You will need soldiers, with their mus- 
kets and bayonets ; and, mind, I tell you before- 
hand, that with all my respect and good-will for 
you and your family, to whom I am under obli- 



72 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



gations, I will not send a single soldier with 
you.' 

'" I want none of thy soldiers, Friend Charles, 
I depend upon something better than thy soldiers.' 

"The king 

wanted to know 
what that could be. 
" ' Why, I de- 
pend on them- 
selves, on their 
own moral sense ; 
even that grace of 
God which bring- 
eth salvation, and 
which hath ap- 
peared unto all 
men.' 

" ' I fear. Friend 
William, that that grace has never appeared to 
the Indians of North America.' 

" ' Why not to them as well as to all others ?' 
" ' If it had appeared to them, they would not 
have treated my subjects so barbarously as they 
have done.' 

"'That is no proof to the contrary. Friend 
Charles. Thy subjects were the aggressors. 
When thy subjects first went to North America, 
they found these poor people the fondest and 




KING CHARLES II 



WILLIAM PENN 73 

kindest people in the world. They would feast 
them on their best fish and venison and corn, 
which was all that they had. In return for all 
their kindnesses, thy subjects, called Christians, 
seized on their country and rich hunting grounds 
for farms for themselves. Now is it to be won- 
dered at that these much injured people should 
have been driven to desperation by such injus- 
tice ; and that burning with revenge they should 
have committed some excesses?' 

" ' Well, then, I hope you will not complain 
when they come to treat you in the same man- 
ner.' 

" ' I am not afraid of it' 

" ' But, how will you avoid it ? You mean to 
get their hunting grounds, too, I suppose.' 

"'Yes, but not by driving these poor people 
away from them.' 

" ' Indeed, then, how will you get their lands ?' 

" ' I mean to buy their lands of them.' 

" ' Buy their lands of them ! Why, man, you 
have already bought them of me.' 

" 'Yes, I know I have, and at a dear rate, too ; 
but I did it only to get thy good-will, not that I 
thought thou hadst any right to their lands.' 

" ' Zounds, man ! no right to their lands ! ' 

" ' No, Friend Charles, no right at all. What 
right hast thou to their lands ?' 



74 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



" ' Why, the right of discovery, the right which 

the Pope and all Christian kings have agreed to 

give one another.' 

'" The right of discovery ! a strange kind of 

right indeed. Now suppose, Friend Charles, 

some canoe- 
loads of 
these same 
savages 
crossing the 
seas and dis- 
coveringthy 
island of 
Great Brit- 
ain were to 
claim it as 
their own, 
and set it up 

for sale over thy head, what wouldst thou think 

of it?' 

"'Why, why, why, I confess I should think it 

a piece of great impudence in them.' 

" ' Well, then, how canst thou, a Christian, and 

a Christian prince, too, do that which thou so 

utterly condemnest in these people whom thou 

callest savages ? ' 

"The king was obliged to give at least a tacit 

aofreement to this aroument. 




TU1-; SECOND HOME OF WILLIAM PENN IN I'HILA- 
DELl'HIA, ROOFED w'lTH SLATE AND ELEGANTLY 
FURNISHED 



WILLIAM PENN 75 

" 'Well, then, Friend Charles, how can I, who 
call myself a Christian, a follower of the meek 
and lowly Jesus, a man of peace, how can I do 
what I abhor, even in heathens? No, I will not 
do it. But I will buy the right of the proper 
owners, even of the Indians themselves !'" 

Thus William Penn, true to his convictions of 
justice and right, soon after his arrival in the 
New World, called a meeting of the Indians 
who lived in that section of the country. With 
them he made a famous treaty. Yes, indeed, it 
was a famous treaty. That treaty between 
William Penn and his followers on the one hand, 
and the Indian king on the other, is well worth 
our careful study. 

The day on which it was made was a beautiful 
autumn day near the close of November. The 
tall trees on either bank of the Delaware had 
shed their leaves, but the sun was bright and 
the air was mild. All nature was still and quiet 
as if wrapped in thought and preparing for the 
great transaction about to take place. 

Under a wide-spreading tree, at a place which 
was called by the Indians Shackamaxon, a coun- 
cil-fire had been built. Near it was seated a 
company of chiefs with their counselors and 
ao-ed men on either hand. In the midst of the 
group was the great Sachem, Taminend, " one 



76 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



of nature's noblemen, revered for his wisdom 
and beloved for his goodness." Behind them in 
the form of a half-circle sat the young men and 
a few aged matrons. Beyond them in still- 
widening circles were the younger people of 




PKNN TKKATINC. WllH lllK INDIANS 

both sexes. Lacy Cock, the hospitable Swede 
whose dwelling was near by, and a few other 
white men, also were of the company. Quietly 
all awaited Penn's coming. 

A barge now appeared on the mild waters of 
the Delaware and approached the place of meet- 



WILLIAM PENN 'J'J 

ing-. At the mast-head was the broad pennant 
of the governor. The oars were manned by 
sturdy rowers, and near the stern sat William 
Penn, attended by his council. They landed 
and advanced toward the council-fire, Penn's at- 
tendants walking before him, bearing presents, 
which they spread upon the ground. 

Taminend put on his chaplet, surmounted by 
a small horn, the emblem of kingly power. By 
means of an interpreter, he intimated that the 
nations assembled were ready to hear what the 
white father had to say to them. Then Penn 
arose and addressed them through the inter- 
preter. Clarkson, the great English philan- 
thropist, says that he spoke as follows : 

" The Great Spirit, who made you and me, 
who rules the heavens and the earth, and who 
knows the inmost thoughts of men, knows that 
I and my friends have a hearty desire to live in 
peace and friendship with you, and to serve you 
to the utmost of our power. It is not our cus- 
tom to use hostile weapons against our fellow- 
creatures, for which reason we have come un- 
armed. Our object is not to do injury, and thus 
provoke the Great Spirit, but to do good. We 
have met on the broad pathway of good faith 
and o-ood-will so that no advantao;e is to be 
taken on either side, but all to be openness, 



78 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

brotherhood, and love." Here the Governor 
unrolled a parchment, containing agreements 
for trade and promises of friendship. Then he 
proceeded : 

" I will not do as the Marylanders did, that is, 
call you children or brothers only ; for parents 
are apt to whip their children too severely, and 
brothers sometimes differ. Neither will I com- 
pare the friendship between us to a chain ; for 
the rain may rust it, or a tree may fall and break 
it. But I will consider you as the same flesh 
and blood with the Christians, and the same as 
if one man's body were to be divided into two 
parts," 

The Indians took time to think on what Penn 
had said to them, and then the king ordered one 
of his chiefs to reply. The Indian orator came 
forward and in the name of the king saluted 
Penn. Then he took him by the hand and 
made a speech, pledging kindness and good 
neighborhood and that they would " live in love 
with William Penn and his children as long as 
the sun and the moon shall endure." 

The Indians then agreed to give to Penn all 
the land bounding on the great river from the 
mouth of Duck Creek to what is now Bristol, 
and from the river towards the setting sun as far 
as a man could ride in two days on a horse. 



WILLIAM PENN 



79 



Penn not only paid the Indians for the land, but 
he did everything possible to add to their happi- 












* 







»^a^itatUecA<i> 






t^i^i/nA, 



^ourh^l^ 



\ 






•^ 



INDIAN KICCEUT FOR lEN THOUSAND DOLLARS IN PAYMENT OF LAND 
SOLD BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SIX NATIONS TO THE DE- 
SCENDANTS OF WILLIAM PENN, 1 769 

ness and improvement. As a result they were 
kind and friendly in return. 

This peaceful intercourse between the people 



8o 



AMl'KHAN 1'I0N'KI':RS 



ol I'ciinsyK ania aiul thr I luliaiis loiit imiiHl with- 
out iiit(Mrii|)l ion as lout; as tho priiu'ipK's ol 
I'cMiii prcNailotl ill tho i-oloii\'. 1 his ttcat)' ko|)t 
so ItMiL; a time well ilhistratos thi- truth that 
the th)ttriiu' of pi-act* promott's iho happiness 
ol man. 

X'ollairc, llic j^rcat l^HMirli pliiK)sophcr, said 
of this troat\- : "W'illi.un IV-nn l>oi;an by niakiiiL; 
a 1(ml;ii<^ with tht^ Anicricans. his ncij^libors. It 
is the onl\' one Ix'twcrn thoso natixos aiul tlu- 
Christians whiih was novor sworn to, and tin- 
only oui- that was novor brokiMi." 

riu' tr('(" umlor which, as tradition sa)s, the 
tri-at) was niado stood until Maith, iSio, when 
it was blown owv b\' tho wind. It was twenly- 
four feet in liriunilricncc and t\\i> hundred anil 
eiohtN-throe \iMrs oKl. The state of TennsNl- 
vania has pureh.ised the land where this treaty 
was inad(- ; and where the tii'e iMue stin^d, the 
l\-nn .*^oiiiM)' has iMeeted a inonunient ti^ eoni- 
nieniorali' the l\nuuliuv:; ol rennsylvania "by 
iKmhIs ol peace.' 

riu> life of William Venn is wcW worth our 
stiuh' and imitation. ilow happy ouv vacc will 
be when it folK>ws the prineipK-s which i^overned 
his life! TluMi the doctrines i>f peace' and «;"oc>d- 
will shall i"\iM\where pri"\ail, and the Ciolden 
RuK' conlii>l tlu" affairs oi all nations. 



rioNi'.i'.ks ov ci\ii.i/.\ i"U)N 

The Sccotul Mii;ration Over the Alleghaiiics 

C'llAP'ri'.K \'II 

K.\riii:u MAKoiM I'l'i-: 

i(.j7 1(75 

/'^IIAMPI.AIN'S (oloiu h.ul h.ndU luvM («s- 
t.iMisluHl ;U (Jui'hiH" hrloii' .i i()iii|).my of 
l"H'iu'h pru'sts aii"ivc(.l. They laiiic lo j)rc.uh 
nol to ihcir lOiiiU r\ men, l)ut lo llu- liuli.ms. 1 he 
hrst fompaiiN was lollowcd Ity others, and all 
siatteitHl in litllc L;r<>ii|)s ol twos ami thucs 
through the lorcsts. riu\ went where no other 
while men hail excr heen ; anil when, l)\ and hy, 
Ini-traders and ad\ cnt nreis feaihed the .shores 
ol ihe LMeat iidand waters, theN' womlered to 
Inul in some dislanl Indian xilla^e or on some 
lonely lu'adland a laoss or a tiny i-hapel. 

idiese priests, or jesnits, as they were called 
hecanse they l)eloni_;t"il to a soc lety km)wn as the 
(j 



82 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



Society of Jesus, endured great hardships. They 
could not carry much baggage in their small 
canoes, so they took with them the articles used 
in the service of their church and left behind 
the things they needed for their own comfort. 
They lived in much the same way as did the 
Indians. They slept on the same kind of hard 




INDIAN liELT OF BEADS 



beds ; they ate the same kinds of disagreeable 
foods. Many died from exposure ; many were 
killed by the savages. 

The heroism and patience of these Catholic 
priests ought to have received an abundant re- 
ward, but their teachings fell upon very stony 
hearts. The Indians were baptized and gladly 
hunor crucifixes and imai^es of saints about their 
necks ; but it was more because they were at- 
tracted by the glitter of these objects and were 
eaofer to receive beads and tobacco than because 
they desired to change their manner of living. 

The most successful missions were among the 
Hurons who lived on the eastern shore of Lake 



FATHER MARQUETTE 83 

Huron. This nation had a deadly foe, the Iro- 
quois, the most savage tribe of all the Indians. 
In the early springtime, they came with all their 
warriors into the country of the Hurons, burning, 
destroying, killing, wherever they went. The 
Hurons who were left tied and sought new 
homes far away. One band finally settled on 
the peninsula between Lake Superior and Lake 
Michigan on the west, and Lake Huron on the 
east ; and hither came Father Marquette. 

Here, in the northern part of this peninsula, 
at the gate-way between these great bodies of 
water, was an ideal place for a mission station. 
It was the gathering place of all the tribes for 
many miles around, for it was the " home of the 
fishes." The Indians considered it a sacred 
place and told many legends about it. They 
said that a large company of warriors was once 
gathered at sunrise on the point where St. Ignace 
now stands. It was the moon of February, the 
month sacred to the Great Manitou. . While they 
were looking out over the water, something be- 
sides the sun rose out of the lake. At first it 
looked like the back of a great turtle, but when 
in the memory of man was there a turtle so 
large ? It rose higher and higher and finally it 
showed itself to be a beautiful island. The In- 
dians ever after called this a holy place and 



84 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

never passed it without making some offering 
to the fairies who were supposed to Hve in the 
caverns under the island. 

These fairies were in the habit, so the legend 
says, of coming out and dancing on the beach 
after dark. One night an Indian chief was 
greatly honored. While he was asleep, a hand 
touched him and beckoned him to follow. His 
spirit immediately left his body and went with 
the fairy. She led him through the entrance 
beneath the hill into a large and beautiful wig- 
wam, where the great spirits were seated in 
solemn Indian fashion. The chief was permitted 
to see many wonderful sights, and after some 
time the Master Spirit called the guide, and he 
was led back to his body. When he awoke the 
next morning, he told of his visit ; but what he 
had seen and what he had heard no one could 
get him to describe. Nobody else ever had a 
similar experience, and the Indians never learned 
more about the home of the fairies. 

The Indians called the island Moe-che-ne- 
mack-e-nung, which means a great turtle. The 
French called it Mich-il-i-mac-kin-ac, which we 
have shortened to Mackinac. This name is 
given not only to the island, but also to the strait 
which connects lakes Michigan and Huron and 
to the town on its southern shore. Father Mar- 



FATHER MARQUETTE 



85 



quette lived on the island until his chapel was 
built on the mainland. Its sides were of rough 
logs and its roof was of bark. Beside it were 
two or three houses, and around the whole was 




From a print of 1870 



FORT AND TOWN OF MACKINAC 



a strong fence of upright logs. Outside clear- 
incrs were made where corn was raised. 

At the station Father Marquette said the 
mass, baptized the children, buried the dead, and 
attended to all the wants of his savage flock. 
Here, too, every year came wandering tribes to 
fish and to hunt ; and from them he heard of a 
great river which flowed from the north on and 
on, ever growing larger and larger until it 



86 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

reached the far distant south. Did it flow into 
the Vermilion Sea, as the Gulf of California was 
called ? Did it empty its waters into the Gulf 
of Mexico ? Did it twist to the east and reach 
the Atlantic Ocean near Virginia? If only he 
could go and see and carry the story of the Vir- 
gin and of Jesus to the many, many tribes that 
must live upon its banks! 

For two years Father Marquette labored at 
Michilimackinac, until one day Louis Joliet ar- 
rived at the station. The fame of the great 
river had reached even to Quebec, and he had 
been sent out to persuade Father Marquette to 
find it. With great joy the priest made hurried 
preparations, and in a few days the simple outfit 
was ready. They had two canoes, a small stock 
of dried meat and Indian corn, and five men. 

This little company set out about the middle 
of INIay, 1672 ; and when night came, they had 
arrived at the country of the Wild Rice Indians. 
This name had been given the Indians because 
such quantities of wild rice grew on the banks 
of their streams. They were very fond of the 
rice, and Marquette has given an interesting ac- 
count of the way they gathered and prepared it 
for food. In September, he says, the Indians 
go in their canoes through the fields of rice and 
shake the grain into the canoes as they advance. 



FATHER MARQUETTE 



B7 



When it is ripe, the grain falls easily ; and in a 
little time the canoes are full. Then it is dried 
over a slow fire for several days, so that the 
outer covering will fall off easily. After that, it 
is placed in a hole in the ground and trodden 




INDIANS c-.A 1 IIKKIM; \U 1 I > Kli.1': 



upon until the chaff is cleaned from the grain. 
Finally, it is powdered into meal and boiled with 
water and grease. 

The Wild Rice Indians received the adven- 
turers kindly ; but when they told where they 
were going, their hosts tried to hold them back. 
" Hostile Indians live on the banks of the great 
river," they said. "It is treacherous and is in- 



88 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 




INDIAN TEArr-nrK 



habilcul by ilcnions that destroy all 
slranoxTs." Marciucttc^ told them 
that c>\ tMi these terrors could not 
keep him from continuiiio- on his 
journe)-. \\c hless(>d tlu>m and 
departed. In just a month from 
the ilay he antl Jolitn left the mis- 
sion, they reached the Mississippi, 
l^^or two weeks they jiaddled on 
and saw no sij^n of Intlians. At 
last, seeino footprints in the nuul. 
Manpiette ami Joliet tleeidetl to 
folKnv them. Soon they came upon 
a village, anil immetliattdy there 
was an uproar. The In- 
dians swarmed out of their 
wiowams aiul fiuu' chiefs 
met them. hoUlino- hii^h 
the peace-pij>e. " \\du> 
are \'ou ? " askcnl Mar- 
qut,>tt(.\ "We are Illinois." 
tlu^y replietl. The i>eace- 
pipi>s were smoked ; and 
tlu> stranoers were led to 
tlu> principal wiL^wam, 
when^ tlu^ chief met them 
with a speech oi welcome. 
Lonofellow. in his beau- 



FATHER MARQUETTE 89 

tifiil pofin of 1 liawatlia, has translatcnl it as 
follows : 

Tlicn the joyous Hiawatha 
Cried aloud and s|Kike in this wise : 
" Beauiilul is tiie sun, O strangers, 
When you come so far to see us ! 
All our town in jieace awaits you, 
All our doors stanil open for you ; 
Vou stiall enter all our wigwams, 
For thelieart's right hand we give you. 

" Never bloomed the earth so gaily, 
Never shone the sun so brightly, 
As to-tiav they shine and blossom 
When you come so far to see us ! 
Never was our laUe so tranquil, 
Nor so free from rocks and santl-bars ; 
For your birch canoe "'n passing 
Has removed both rock ami san(l-l)ar ! 

" Never before had our tobacco 
Such a sweet and pleasant llavoi , 
Never ttie broad fields of our cornfields 
Were so beautiful to look on. 
As they seem to us this morning, 
Wiien you come so far to see us ! " 

And the Black-Robe chief made answer, 
Stammered in his speech a little, 
Speaking wortls yet unfamiliar : 

" Peace be with you, Hiawatlia, 
Peace be with you and your people. 
Peace of jirayer, and peace of pnrdon. 
Peace of Christ, and joy of Mary ! " 

The Indians sot before their oiicsts a feast. 
" It consisted," says Marquette, "of four courses 
which we had to take with all thcMr ways. The 



90 



AMERICAN riDNEERS 



first course was a great wooden dish full of 
sagamity, that is to say, of Indian meal boiled 
in water and seasoned with grease. The master 
of ceremonies, with a spoonful of sagamity, pre- 
sented it three or four times to my mouth, as we 
would do with a little child ; he did the same 




INDIAN METHOD Ol' I'.KdlllM; FISH 

with ]\I. foliet. For the second course he 
brought in another dish containing three fish, 
removed the bones, and having blown upon it to 
cool it, put it to my mouth as we would food to 
a bird. For a third course they produced a 
large dog which they had just killed, but learn- 
ing that we did not eat it, it was withdrawn. 
Finally, the fourth course was a piece of wild 
buffalo, the fattest portions of which were put 
into our mouths." 



FATHER MARQUETTE 9I 

The travelers were not always so kindly 
treated. Further down the river the Indians 
were unfriendly. At first Marquette feared that 
they would be killed ; but finally the peace-pipe 
was smoked, and they were given food and shel- 
ter. The devouring- demons, prophesied by the 
Wild Rice Indians, did not appear ; but they 
did see, high up on the face of a cliff, two terrible 
creatures, " as large as a calf, with horns like a 
deer, red eyes, a beard like a ticrer, and a frightful 
expression of countenance. The face is some- 
what like a man's, the body covered with scales ; 
and the tail so long that it passes entirely round 
the body, over the head, and between the legs 
ending like that of a fish." These demons or 
gods were painted in red, black, and green and 
were greatly feared by the Indians. 

A little beyond the cliffs Marquette and his 
companion reached the Missouri River, which 
brought such a quantity of trees and drift in its 
torrent that the canoes were nearly capsized. 
The travelers met with no more serious adven- 
tures than these ; and when they had reached 
the mouth of the Arkansas River, they decided 
to return. They had found the Mississippi and 
had followed its course far enough to discover 
that it fiowed neither into the Pacific nor into 
the Atlantic, but into the Gulf of Mexico. 



92 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

The journey back was difficult ; but at the end 
of four months from the time {.he two men left 
the mission station, they reached Lake Michigan 
again. They had traveled in all twenty-five 
hundred miles. Joliet went back to Quebec to 
carry the story of the discover)^ ; Mar(|uette 
remaineil behind in the wilderness. He hail 
become much interested in the Illinois Indians. 
The word Illinois means "the men", and in all 
respects they seemed to be a finer race than any 
other he had seen among the Indians. Idle next 
autumn, though he was ill and knew that he had 
onl)- a short time to live, he went to start a mis- 
sion among the Illinois. 

When lu; reached the soutluMMi tMul of Lake 
Michigan he could go no farther, 11 is Indian 
companions built a little hut, and here he spent 
the winter — the first white man on the site of 
Chicago. In the spring, being better, he went 
on and started a mission at Kaskaskia. His 
strenofth was nc^w eone, and he was anxious to 
return to Michilimackinac. A great compain- 
of Indians followed him as far as the lake. Here 
hv left thtMU and started for home. He died on 
the. way and was buried on the shore of the 
lake. 

The next year the Indians tenderly carried 
his bones to his old mission. As they proceeded 



FATFIER 1\[ARQUETTE 



93 



on the lake, they were joined by more and more 
canoes, until, by the time they reached Michili- 
mackinac there 
were thirty boats 
in the procession. 
At the shore they 
were met by all the 
priests and traders 
of the mission. 
The roui^h box 
was carried to the 
chapel and buried 
beneath its lloor.'"'' 
An old record 
says that Fath(;r 
Marquette "was 
the first and last 
white man who ever had such an assembly of 
the wild sons of the forest to attend him to 
the grave." 




MAKi H IC I II'. s liK.W 



* The little cha|)el of St. Ignace, on tiie mainland opposite 
Mackinac, was ilestio\e(l by fire in 1706, and it was not until 
1877 that Marquette's grave was discovered. In 1882 the present 
monument was erected by the citizens of St. Ignace. 



CHAPTER VIII 

PIERRE D'IBERVILLE 
1661-1706 

piERRE LE MOYNE D'IBERVILLE 

(o-ber-vel') was one of eleven sons of a 
Canadian gentleman. All of them gave their 
talents, and many lost their lives, in pushing- 
forward the cause of France in the New World. 
Iberville was the most beloved of all the brothers. 
When he was only fourteen years old he became 
a midshipman in the navy ; and from that time 
until his death, he was here, there, everywhere, 
north, east, south, and west, in the service of 
France. 

At one time we hear of him as one of the 
leaders in an expedition against an English set- 
tlement in New York. Three times he went to 
Hudson's Bay and seized the English forts there. 
As the commander of a French frigate, he cap- 
tured three English ships and then attacked the 
fortifications at Newfoundland. The commander 
sent him word that he would not give up the 
fort, even though " the sea was white with 



PIERRE D IBERVILLE 



95 



French sails and the land dark with Indians." 
But his supplies gave out before his courage, 
and he was forced at last to surrender to keep 
his garrison from starvation. 

These and other successes made Iberville the 
most famous officer in the French service. He 
was called " the idol of 
his countrymen," and his 
sailors would have fol- 
lowed him to the ends of 
the earth. When peace 
had been declared be- 
tween France and Encf- 
land, Iberville asked per- 
mission to take a colony 
to the valley of the Mis- 
sissippi River. He hoped 
to secure all the vast Ror.iiKT cweuer ue la sm.le 

stretches of country from the mouth of "the 
Father of Waters " to the mouth of the St. 
Lawrence. 

A few years after Father Marquette had dis- 
covered the Mississippi, another Frenchman, 
Cavelier de La Salle, had made a more thorough 
exploration of the river. He had descended to 
its mouth, and in the name of France had taken 
possession of the whole country, calling it Lou- 
isiana, in honor of King Louis. 




96 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



The Gulf of Mexico was a long way from 
Quebec, aiul Frenchmen could hardly expect to 
keep all these thousands of miles for themselves 
without many forts and soldiers and settlements. 
Quebec guarded the gateway of this region on 
the nc^rth. It would be hard work for the 1mi!>- 




i-ioiit l/it- /•.iiHttHi; l<y (iauiiiit in the \\>s,iillts i'.alloy 

lllK FKKNril Kl.KKl' UN llIK I.OI'ISIANA COAST 

lish to get past \\vx forts. If only a colony could 
guard the gatewa)' at the south, then the ene- 
mies of b^ ranee could not enter except over the 
mountains to the east. 

The shii)s carrying Iberville's colony reached 
safely the Ciulf of Mexico. On the way, they 
had had a fight with the English, but Iberville 
with his usual success had beaten them ofT. He 



riKRRK D inERVII.LE 97 

carefully searched the coast for the best place 
for a settlement. First he visited a group of 
islands which he called Chandeleur Islands, be- 
cause they were discovered on Candlemas Day. 
They were Hat and sandy, so shelters were put 
up on another island which was named Ship 
Island because it had a good anchoraoe for ships. 
The next island was small and marshy, and was 
overrun by a strange animal which was neither 
a cat nor a fox. The place so swarmed with 
them that one of the men cried, " This must be 
the kingtlom of cats ! " Therefore it is called 
Cat Island to this day. 

Leaving the rest of the colonists, Iberville set 
out with two boats to (hkI the Mississippi. He 
reached the mouth of a great river whose waters 
were covered by masses of trees and driftwood. 
" Surely," said Iberville, "this must be the leather 
of Waters" ; but that he might not make a mis- 
take, he went a ten days' journey up the river. 
At this point he found a proof that jnit all his 
doubts to rest. It was nothing less than a letter ; 
a bit of "speaking bark," the Indians called it. 
It had been left there by Tonti, a friend of La 
Salle. The Indians called him the Iron Hand, 
because he wore an iron hand in place of the 
one he had lost in battle. To their orreat won- 
der he had learned to use it with skill. 
7 



98 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

A rumor had reached Tonti in his northern 
home that La Salle had returned to Louisiana 
with a colony by way of the Gulf of Mexico and 
the Mississippi. Tonti immediately set out with 
a few Indians in birch canoes on a journey of a 
thousand miles and more to meet his friend. He 
waited day after day ; but as La Salle did not 

appear and he could wait 
no longer, he left this let- 
ter with the Indians, tell- 
ing- them to give it to 
the first white man who 
should come up the river. 
Iberville boutrht it for an 
axe and then returned 
down the river to the 
KING LOUIS XIV waiting ships. 

Finally he decided to leave his colony at a 
place which he called Biloxi, It was not a very 
good location, as he afterwards found ; but here 
he built a fort, left two of his brothers in com- 
mand, and went back to France for more colo- 
nists and more supplies. While he was gone, his 
younger brother, Bienville, made various explor- 
ing expeditions. One day when he was out in a 
small boat on the Mississippi, he met a ship 
coming up the river. It was commanded by 
Captain Barr of the English navy. He had 




PIERRE DIBERVILLE 99 

been sent out to make explorations and a settle- 
ment. " You can't settle here," said Bienville. 
"All this region is now a part of Canada and 
belongs to the French king. We have a colony 
here as you must know, else I would not be on 
the river in so small a boat." 

The Englishman courteously turned his vessel 
about and sailed back into the Gulf, and this is 
why a bend in the river is now known as the 
English Turn. 

One day a visitor surprised the colonists at 
Biloxi. It was Father Devion, an heroic Jesuit 
priest who had long been a missionary to the 
Indians of that region. His knowledge of the 
natives and of the country proved to be a great 
help to the settlers. 

Father Devion had first worked among a tribe 
of Indians called the Tunlias. He had labored 
with them long and faithfully, but still they 
seemed to be as fond of their idols as at first. 
Father Devion therefore burned their temple 
and broke in pieces their carved idol. The In- 
dians were very angry ; but they had learned to 
love the good priest, though they had not learned 
to love his relio-ion. Instead of killino- him, as 
would have been expected, they turned him out 
of their country. He then went to another tribe 
and there had better success. 



t.^i 



lOO 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



In the forest, behind a great oak, he built a 
tiny chapel. Inside the chapel was the altar, 
but Father Devion's pulpit was fastened to the 

trunk of a tree. 
Herein the open 
air he preached 
to his Indian 
con o retration. 
The people be- 
lieved that he 
must be more 
than man ; for, 
said they, " No 
man could eat 
so little and 
live, and no man 
could know so 
much that was 
happening so far 
away." The sick 
scarcely needed 
to send for him ; he w^as with them before they 
called. He was a companion of all the children 
and a help to any one in distress. Even after 
his death he was long remembered, and Indian 
mothers used to carry their children to the old 
chapel in the woods in the hope that F"ather 
Devion, though dead, still could bless them. 




La Salle's Route ^^ 



TERRITORY SETT1.K11 KY THE FRENCH 



PIERRE D IBERVILLE lOI 

The next winter Iberville returned and imme- 
diately set about improving the condition of the 
colonists and pushino- forward new explorations. 
One company was sent to seek for copper mines. 
Another was ordered to build a fortification on 
the IVIississippi. While work on this fort was 
going forward, a canoe came down the river. In 
it was one white man with a number of Indian 
warriors. It was " Tonti of the Iron Hand." 
Again he had heard that a colony of French- 
men were on the lower Mississippi, and again 
he had made the long journey to welcome and 
aid them. 

When Tonti returned, Iberville went with 
him up the river, and smoked the peace-pipe 
with the Indian tribes. At one place they were 
met by "The Great Sun " of the Natchez tribe 
and a large company of " little suns." This In- 
dian nation kept a lire burning continually in 
their temple, and before this fire the first animals 
killed on a hunting trip were always offered. 
They believed that the souls of warriors who 
had been successful in battle went to live in the 
land of buffaloes, where in great happiness they 
hunted forever. All those who had never taken 
any scalps went to the country of the lakes, 
where there were only alligators and fish. 

After saying good-bye to Tonti, Iberville went 



I02 



AMERICAN nOXEERS 



back to Hiloxi and soon after returned to France. 
When he next came to Louisiana, he found the 
colony in great distress. The yellow fever had 
attacked them. Many had died, and amoncr 
them one of his brothers, the governor of the 

colony. Iberville 
decided that the 
situation of Biloxi 
was unhealthful. 
He removed the 
colony to Mobile 
and so began the 
settlement of Ala- 
bama. 

Iberville himself 
was sick with fever. 
Me left the fort in 
the care of Bien- 
_ ville, who was but 
r.iKNVM.iK, (;,.vKK.NoK OK i.oiMsiANA tweuty-two years 

of age, and sailed away never to return. Bien- 
ville afterwards moved the colony to the Mis- 
sissippi and founded the city of New Orleans. 
The discouragements were man)-, and the diffi- 
culties were great, but Bienville remained by the 
colony until he .was ordered back to France. 
He had then been in Louisiana nearly forty-four 
years. 



.i^JH^^Hlft'*- 




^^K "^f^^H 




^E«»: 




% ^% * 




%,'^,;|\^ 


f 




W^ ■■ 



CHAPTER IX 



DANIEL BOOxNE 
1735-1820 

TTNTIL a few years ago, there stood on the 
bank of Boone's Creek in eastern Ten- 
nessee, a tree on whose 
smooth bark was rudely 
carved," D. Boon cilled 
A BAR on this tree 
year i 760." 

Daniel Boone was a 
famous hunter. Ib^ 
frequently carved his 
name on trees and re- 
corded the killing of 
bears and other wild 
animals. He was a 
brave man and a real hero, one of the most 
noted pioneers of the Old Northwest. 

His father and grandfather were Quakers. 
His grandfather, George, came to Pennsylvania 
from England in the year 171 7. George's son 
Squire was the father of Daniel, who was born 




I04 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



in the valley of the Schuylkill, Pennsylvania, in 
November, i 735. 

When he was sixteen years of age he made 
his first pioneer move with his father's family, 
more than five hundred miles from Pennsylvania 
into North Carolina. The women and the chil- 




FORDINC; THE POTOMAC ON THE WAY TO THE NORTHWEST 

dren rode in their rude covered wagons, and the 
men and the boys on horseback, some in the 
front making ready the path, and some in the 
rear guarding the cattle. The herds of cattle 
followed the wagons, and those on horseback 
were kept constantly alert to prevent their stray- 
ing off into the forest on the right hand or the left. 
They forded the Potomac at Harper's Ferry, 
and then wound their way through an almost 



DANIEL BOONE 



105 



unbroken wilderness the entire length of the 
beautiful Shenandoah Valley, and onward, stead- 
ily advancing, until they reached the valley of 
the Yadkin (N.C. ). Here they made their home. 
They built cabins, cut down trees, and cleared 
the land for their corn, potatoes, and wheat. 
In this new country the people lived a primi- 




A settler's hut in the SHENANDOAH VALLEY 

tive life. Their houses were log huts, generally of 
one room, and a loft reached by a ladder. The 
floor of the room was the bare ground. At its rear 
end a capacious fire-place opened from the big 
outside chimney. The family had only the rud- 
est implements for cooking, eating, and sleeping. 
For a long time their best bed was a pile of 
leaves on the floor, with bear skins for blankets. 



I06 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

The dress of Daniel Boone, like that of most 
of the pioneers, consisted of a long hunting-shirt 
of coarse cloth or of dressed deerskin, with 
trousers and leggings of the same material. His 
feet were covered with moccasins of deerskin. 
From his belt hung powder-horn, shot-pouch, 
tomahawk, and scal[)ing-knife. Generally the 
men wore on their heads a coon-skin cap with 
bushy tail, but Daniel Boone always preferred a 
hat. 

In the fall of 1767, with a few companions, 
Boone left the Yadkin country and, crossing the 
mountains, sought the fertile valleys of Ken- 
tucky.* The party hunted for furs and secured 
a large quantity of deer, beaver, and otter skins 
and other peltries, worth in those days one hun- 
dred dollars, and stored them in their camp. In 
December the Indians made a raid on the camp 
and plundered everything. 

Still these hardy pioneers persevered, and in 
the winter of 1770 Boone remained there alone 
for three months. He spent his time in camp 
and on hunting expeditions, with no compan- 
ions, and without bread, salt, or sugar. At 
length, in September, 1773, more than a half- 
century after his grandfather had come to this 
country, and almost half as long since he had 



DANIEL BOONE 



107 



made his home on the Yadkin, Daniel Hoone, 
his family, and a company of friends pushed 
across the mountains throuoh CumlnM-lantl Gap 




I'lO.NKf.KS ACCwM lai l.V 1M)1AN> 



and made the first permanent settlement in Ken- 
tucky, at Harrodsburg. 

From this time onward, the number of set- 
tlers in Kentucky rai)idly increased, although 



I08 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

the frequent invasions and attacks of the Indians 
from beyond the Ohio came near blotting out 
all the settlements. Without previous notice or 
suspicion, a band of Indians would surround a 
cornfield where the men were at work ; or a rifle 
shot or a war-whoop would awake the settlers in 
the small hours of the night. They were kept 
on the watch at all times, and their rifles were 
always within reach. It seems strange that men 
would expose themselves and their families to 
such constant dangers, but trees were continually 
beine cut down and new clearino^s made in the 
old hunting grounds of the Indians. 

Almost everything that the pioneers had to 
eat or to wear must be raised in the clearings or 
found in the forests. Salt was one of the neces- 
sities that could not be bought. It was obtained 
at the salt springs which were scattered here 
and there in various parts of the country. Long 
before the white men or even the red men knew 
of these springs, they were known by the wild 
animals. At certain seasons of the year they 
would come in droves to them and lick up the 
salt. Therefore the settlers called the springs 
Salt Licks. 

One January, Boone and thirty men went to 
the Lower Blue Licks to make salt for the set- 
tlers. They continued for a time in peace, one 



DANIEL BOONE 



109 



half working and the other half watching- for 
Indians or gathering food. They had sent on 
pack-horses to Boonesborough a considerable 
quantity of salt, when their work was suddenly 
cut short. 

It happened that one day Boone left the salt 
camp to hunt buffalo and beaver. When, to- 
wards evening, in the midst of a blinding snow- 
storm, he was returning with his horse well 
laden, he was confronted by four Shawnee In- 
dians, who sprang suddenly from an ambush and 
took him prisoner. They hurried him to their 
camp a few miles away, where he found more 
than a hundred well-armed Indians under com- 
mand of their chief. Black Fish. 

The Indians were about to make an attack on 
Boonesborough and proposed that Boone should 
show them the way. As a stratagem, he induced 
the men at the salt camp to surrender them- 
selves prisoners. This was to bring about a 
delay in the proposed raid upon the settlement. 
At Boonesborough there were about sixty men 
besides women and children. The fort was only 
partly built ; and if an attack were made at once, 
the Indians would win an easy victory. 

Boone told the Indians that in the spring, 
when the weather was warmer, they would all 
go together to Boonesborough. The place could 



I 10 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

then be captured easily and the prisoners carried 
to Detroit to get the promised reward from Gov- 
ernor Hamilton. This occurred, we must re- 
member, during the war between England and 
the Colonies ; and so it was that the British gov- 
ernor had offered the Indians /"20 for every 
American prisoner they should bring him. 

Boone's proposition appeared reasonable, and 
the Indians agreed to it. So Boone succeeded 
in delaying their attack in the hope that his peo- 
ple would finish the fort and that reinforcements 
might come from Virginia. 

Week after week Boone and his companions 
remained in the crowded wig\vams of the savages. 
They lived upon game, corn, hominy, and beans 
boiled together in one kettle in the slovenly In- 
dian manner. The smoky huts were filthy in 
the extreme. But Boone was cheerful — whistled 
and sang at his work and seemed to be con- 
tented. His appearance of happiness so de- 
ceived the Indians that they guarded him less 
closely. 

About the middle of June the Indians under 
Black Fish, who had adopted Boone as his 
son, gathered a force of four hundred braves 
near the Ohio River. Boonesborough must be 
warned ! So Boone was all the more easier to 
escape. One day, while the attention of the 



DANIEL BOONE III 

Indians was concentrated upon a numerous 
flock of wild turkeys, came his long-sought 
opportunity. He slipped away unobserved ; 
and in four days, in which he ate but one meal, 
he reached Boonesborough. His appearance 
was like that of one who had risen from the 
dead. He had been gone nearly five months, 
and his friends had given up all hope of ever 
seeing him acrain. 

The fort was not even then in a state of 
defence. Under Boone's leadership, however, 
the palisades were finished, the gates put up, 
the fortress strengthened, and the four block- 
houses at the corners of the enclosure put in 
order. 

It was not till September that the assault was 
made. Then fully four hundred braves with 
some French Canadians appeared before the 
fort and demanded its surrender. This was re- 
fused and the battle began. Then followed one 
of the most remarkable assaults and heroic de- 
fences recorded in all our annals of Indian war- 
fare. The Indians and the French made numer- 
ous unsuccessful attempts to set fire to the fort 
and the houses; a tunnel under the stockade 
was started and failed ; scaling parties were re- 
pelled ; while in sharpshooting the settlers 
excelled their besiegers. 



112 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



For ten days and nights the Httle garrison of 
about forty men, with the help of the women 




From a« old print 



FORT AT BOONESBOROUGH 



and the children, the sick and the disabled, re- 
sisted this trained band of Indian warriors which 
outnumbered them ten to one. Then the In- 



DANIEL BOONE I 13 

dians, thoroughly disheartened, in the darkness 
of a rainy night 

"Folded their tents like the Arabs, 
And as silently stole away." 

Boonesborough was saved, thanks to its hero, 
Daniel Boone. Nearly forty Indians had lost 
their lives, and a much larger number had been 
wounded, while from the brave little garrison 
but two men were killed and four wounded. 
Their ammunition had been nearly exhausted, 
but now they "picked up a hundred and twenty- 
five pounds of bullets Battened against the sides 
of their fort." 

Years afterwards, as is reported, Boone said, 
" Never did the Indians pursue so disastrous 
a policy as when they captured me and my salt- 
boilers, and taught us \yhat we did not know be- 
fore, the way to their towns and the geography 
of their country ; for though at first our captivity 
was considered a great calamity to Kentucky, it 
resulted in the most siLrnal blessincr to the 
country." 

From this time the tide of emigration to Ken- 
tucky set in strongly, and after the close of the 
Revolution the population still more rapidly 
increased. In i 776 Kentucky was made a county 
of Virginia ; in 1790, a territory ; and two years 
later, a state. 



114 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

Boone's life after the defence of Boonesborough 
was quite as changeable as it had been before. 
He lived in various parts of Kentucky until i 788, 
when he moved with his family to a place called 
Point Pleasant, near the mouth of the Great 
Kanawha. Here was his home for ten years or 




FLOATING DUWN THE OHIO 



more, till, at the age of sixty-four, he again be- 
came a pioneer and with his wife, children, and 
grandchildren took up his march for the far dis- 
tant land beyond the Mississippi River. In nu- 
merous boats these nature-loving people floated 
down the Ohio and ascended the Mississippi 
to the town of St. Louis. In St. Charles County, 
Missouri, they made their new home. 



DANIEL BOONE II5 

At Cincinnati Boone was asked why, at his 
time of life, he had left the comforts of a home 
again to subject himself to the privations of the 
frontier. "Too crowded !" he replied with feel- 
ing. " I want more elbow-room." 

After he was seventy years old he coidd 
scarcely be expected to shoot w^th the accuracy 
of his youth, but he was still widely celebrated 
as a trapper. He made frequent journeys into 
the western wilderness after beaver-skins, going 
even as far as the present state of Kansas; and 
once, when he was eighty years of age, he made 
a journey to the great game fields of the Yellow- 
stone. From these long trips, occupying several 
months, he would return well laden with valu- 
able skins. 

When he was past seventy-five years of age, 
he did not forget that he had left unpaid debts 
in Kentucky. So, as he had accumulated con- 
siderable property, he made a trip to his former 
home and paid off in full every debt. Then, as 
he turned his steps once more towards his new 
home in Missouri, he had the satisfaction of 
feeling that at last he was "square with the 
world." 

The closing years of his life were spent with 
his son Nathan, at whose home he died Septem- 
ber 26th, 1820, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. 



ii6 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



It may seem strange that a man who through 
his whole life had been so exposed to hardships 
should have lived to such a good old age. His 
open-air life must in a great measure account for 
this. 




■■yiH - ^1 , . J>| 



Wmifh 



CHAPTER X 

SIMON KENTON 
1755-1836 

'T^^HE pioneers of the Atlantic slope had a 
■^ much more comfortable time than the 
early emigrants who crossed the Blue Ridge 
and the Alleghany Mountains and settled Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee, and the region north of the 
Ohio River. The settlers of the country then 
often called " Kain-tuck'-ee " were a hardy race. 
They were generally rough and uncouth in their 
manners and often knew very little about gram- 
mar or books of any kind. But they were brave 
men who bore hardships and privations without 
complaint. 

Daniel Boone, James Harrod, George Rogers 
Clark, George Yeager, and Simon Kenton were 
prominent among the pioneers of the country 
south of the Ohio. Kenton was a native of 
Virginia and went to Kentucky when he was 
about eighteen years of age. From that time till 
his death, sixty-three years afterwards (1836), 
his life was filled with the most thrilling and 



Ii8 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



romantic adventures, sufferings, tortures, and 
escapes. 

He had heard from George Yeager glowing 
descriptions of the " wonderful land of cane, " 
lying somewhere south of the Ohio, This land 
was extremely fertile, the climate mild and 

delightful ; and 
thousands of deer 
and elk were scat- 
tered on the wide 
plains. Kenton, 
Yeager, and Stra- 
dor, three inex- 
perienced young 
men, resolved to 
find this Eden of 
the New World. 
Day after day they 
floated down the 
Ohio and after 
many hardships and disappointments built a 
fort in northern Kentucky. They did not sup- 
pose that there were at that time any other white 
persons in the region. When they learned that 
sometime before, Boone had come from North 
Carolina into Kentucky, Kenton left his own fort 
and joined Boone. They became fast friends, 
and their lives afterwards ran along together. 




SIMON KENTON 



SIMON KENTON 



119 



When war with the Indians broke out, Lord 
Dunmore, governor of Virginia, appointed Ken- 
ton a spy. In this campaign the young man 
displayed great courage, sagacity, and endurance. 
At one time, utterly regardless of his own safety, 
he saved the life of Boone by a bold stroke. It 
happened in this way : 

At an early hour in the morning a few Indians 
attacked Boone's fort. 
Kenton and one other 
man sallied forth and re- 
turned their tire. Then 
Boone and ten men rushed 
out to drive away the sav- 
ages. P'orty Indians with 
a fierce war-whoop sprang 
up from an ambush, and 
the battle was instantly 
fierce and rapid. Boone 
was wounded and fell. One of the foremost 
Indians with an exulting yell sprang toward 
Boone and with a flourish raised his hatchet to 
strike the blow which would rid his people of 
their greatest foe. Kenton, quick as the flash 
of his trusty musket, laid the Indian low; and, 
in spite of the shower of bullets that flew thickly 
around hini, picked up his comrade and, darting 
past them all, succeeded in carrying his burden 




LORD DUNMORE 



I20 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

of one hundred and seventy pounds safely within 
the fort. 

" Well, Simon," said Boone to him, as Kenton 
tenderly laid him upon the Hoor, "you have 
behaved yourself like a man to-day." Not long 
after, when Kenton was attacked by a large 
number of savages, Boone with his party sud- 
denly appeared on the scene and rescued his 
friend. 

At one time Kenton and two others lay all 
day on the edge of a cornfield, watching a Shaw- 
nee town. During the night they walked safely 
through its streets and lanes and ran off a dozen 
or more horses from the corral. Later, however, 
Kenton was captured by these Indians. He 
was alone in the forest when an Indian rode up 
to him, extending his hand and saying, " Broder, 
broder." Before Kenton could defend himself, 
the Indian threw his arms around him and pin- 
ioned him. Then, grasping him by the hair of 
his head, he shook him till his teeth rattled and 
his head swam. The other Indians now came 
up and stripped Kenton of his clothing. Then, 
mad with uncontrollable rage, because he had 
stolen their horses — as well they might be : who 
can blame them ? — they prepared to give him 
the most degrading punishment known to the 
Indian race. This was a severe whipping over 



SIMON KENTON 121 

the bare back. They surrounded their victim 
and fell upon him all at once, lashin;^ him with- 
out mercy over the head and shoulders with their 
tough hickory ramrods and with equally tough 
switches from the beech trees. Meanwhile they 
taunted him with words like these : " You want 
Injun hoss, hey ? You hoss-steal, you !" 

Then they bound him tightly upon the back 
of a half-broken colt. When this was thoroughly 
done, they struck the colt and set up a hideous 
yell. They expected that the animal would at 
once dart off madly through the thick woods. 
Had this taken place, death would soon have 
come to the helpless rider. The colt thwarted 
their purpose by making a few springs and jumps 
in and near the path and then returning quietly 
and taking his place in line with the other horses. 
The Indians with their ponies took up their 
march and continued it the rest of the day. 
Then Kenyon was again subjected to the most 
cruel sufferings. 

For an entire week he suffered torture after 
torture. Beaten by any one who chose to in- 
dulge in the pastime, he ran the gauntlet from 
town to town. He was bound to the stake ; but 
the thongs were cut, and he was saved for fur- 
ther suffering. Once he made a vigorous effort 
to escape, broke away and ran for the canebrake. 



122 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



But there were too many Indians. He was soon 
surrounded by horsemen and retaken. 

It was then decided that he should be burned. 
Here another party of Indians came in, and one 
of them turned upon Kenton, threw him to the 
ground, and, pounding him unmercifully, de- 




INDIANS GLOATING OVER THEIR PRISONERS 

manded his name. " Simon Kenton," was the 
reply. His assailant stopped beating him and 
gazed into his haggard face. Then he lifted 
him from the ground, gave him a friendly em- 
brace, and said, " Don't you remember me, 
Kenton ? I am Simon Girty." 

This Girty was a renegade white man that 
had turned Indian. He afterwards joined the 



SIMON KENTON 1 23 

British and fought the Americans in the Revolu- 
tion. This terrible enemy to his race had never 
been known to show any mercy to a white pris- 
oner, but now he became strangely compassion- 
ate. Telling the Indians that himself and the 
prisoner had been early friends, he made an 
earnest plea for his release. He reminded them 
that he had never before asked mercy for one 
of his own race, and he promised that if they 
would pardon his friend he would be faithful to 
them forever and never ask favor of them again. 

For a time at least Kenton was saved. Under 
the tender care of Girty he rapidly recovered, 
but a number of Indians from the villages further 
north came and demanded vengeance. Another 
council was held. Girty again and again made 
most earnest pleas for his friend's life, but the 
tide was against him. At last, convinced that 
he could not save him, Girty turned to Kenton 
and said, " Well, my friend, you must die," and 
at once left the council-house. 

The Indians now resolved to take Kenton to 
one of their villages known as Waccotomica. 
When they started on their journey, almost all 
the people of the vicinity joined the company. 
Girty, on horseback, soon overtook them and 
told Kenton that he had many friends at Wac- 
cotomica, and that he would go in advance and 



124 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



try once more to save him. It was all in vain. 
So Girty left the town, that he might not wit- 
ness the horrible end that he had tried so hard 
to prevent. Girty was a traitor, a renegade, a 
man of evil deeds; but this is one bright spot in 
the dark picture of his life. 

Again, as they entered tli(^ town, Kenton was 




subjected to the brutal lashings of the Indians. 
Just as his trial was going on in the council-house 
and he was standing at the door, who should 
confront him but the noted Indian chief, Logan. 

"Well, young man," said Logan, "these men 
seem to be very mad at you." 

"Yes, sir, they certainly are." 

" Well, don't be down-hearted. They will send 
you to Sandusky, and I have sent off two run- 
ners to take your par.t." 



SIMON KENTON I25 

Even Looran's influence was not strong enouofh 
to save him. But just here came another turn 
of fortune's wheel. A trader named Druyer 
appeared and, admiring Kenton's bearing and 
pitying his sad case, resolved to save him, 
if possible, from being burned at the stake. 
These Indians were at that time allied with the 
British, and the British headquarters were at 
Detroit. Druyer told the chiefs that the gov- 
ernor of Detroit was then preparing an expedi- 
tion against Kentucky and wanted correct infor- 
mation reorardincr the condition of the settle- 
ments there. Therefore he asked the chiefs to 
allow him to take Kenton to Detroit. He prom- 
ised to bring him back as soon as he had given 
the governor the information sought. 

To this the Indians finally consented. Druyer 
took Kenton to Detroit and delivered him over 
to the British officers. Here he stayed until 
he was over the effects of the terrible beatings 
he had received. Then his love of freedom and 
his longing to see his friends once more induced 
him to make another break for liberty. 

With ten other prisoners he set out to return 
to the Falls of the Ohio. The journey took him, 
by a round-about way, fully five hundred miles 
throuo"h a wilderness swarmine with hostile In- 
dians. In spite of all the difificulties, he sue- 



126 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



ceeded in reaching his friends. What surprise, 
what rejoicing there was when he appeared ! 
He had long ago been given up as dead. 

Such were the hardships, fightings, and suffer- 
ings of the brave pioneers who first settled the 
present state of Kentucky. It is well for us, in 
these later days of peace and plenty, to study 
now and then the perils of those who first 
brought civilized life to the fertile valleys of the 
Ohio and the Mississippi. 




Indian weapons 



CHAPTER XI 

GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 
1752-1818 

^ I ""HERE were dreadful days in Kentucky 
during the first years of tlie American 
Revolution. The English had possession of all 
the old Erench settlements north of the Ohio 
River, They urged on the red men to make 
attacks in Kentucky and offered rewards to 
those who would kill the most people. Indians 
seemed to hide behind every stump and in every 
hollow. It was hardly safe for a man to ride 
out into the forest or for a woman to walk 
across the clearing from the house to the stable. 
The white men followed the plans of the red 
men. Takino- their rifles in their hands and a 
few days' provisions on their backs, they would 
cross over into the enemy's country to plunder 
and kill. Such retaliation did more to continue 
the horrors than to stop them. The Indians 
learned to respect the marvelous skill of the 
Kentuckians in using their rifles or " big knives," 
but their hate grew with their respect. 



128 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 




iMnally a youno^ Virginian, George Rogers 
Clark, thought of a way to end the warfare. 
His plan was this : to march with a company of 
men into the enemy's country and capture the 
old r rench villages of Kaskaskia and Vincennes. 
If Ik; coidd do this, he would accomplish two 

things. He would 
put a stop to the In- 
dian expeditions, be- 
cause their guns and 
ammunition and 
hatchets were suj)- 
plied at these forts. 
1 le would also win 
the country north of 
the Ohio River for 
the Americans. It 
was a bold and dar- 
(;k()K(;k koceks < lark inor plan, but Clark 

was a man who did not know the meaning of 
fear. 

1 lis difficulties began almost at the beginning. 
He rc^alized that even the fearless Kentucky 
fronticM'smen would hesitate to enlist for such an 
expedition. The journey would be a thousand 
miles to Kaskaskia and back ; all the Indian 
tribes were hostile ; the French might be also ; 
and no one knew how many companies of 



GEORGE ROGERC CLARK 



129 



English soldiers might be at the forts. Clark 
was well on his way before he told his men 
where they were really going. A number im- 
mediately deserted, and less than two hundred 
embarked in the boats for the journey down the 
Ohio. But Clark would not let even the small- 




BOONE'S trail (1775) AND CLARK'S CAMPAIGN (1778-9) 

ness of his force discourage him. He knew 
that skill and courage and quickness could ac- 
complish more than numbers. 

It was necessary to proceed rapidly if they 
were to reach Kaskaskia before the news of 
their coming. The boats were rowed, two men 
at each oar, night and day for four days. Then 
instead of going round by way of the Missis- 
9 



130 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

sippi, which would have been the easiest route, 
Clark landed his nu;n and took up his march 
through the forest. When he reached Kaskas- 
kia, he found that not a whisper of his under- 
taking had preceded him. (^An American who 
happened to be in the villaj^e openetl the i^ates 
for the invaders^ One company followed alij^ht 
that shone from a window. It was in the house 
occupied by the governor who was fast asleep in 
his bed. The captain entered, put his hand on 
the man's shoulder, awakened him, and told him 
that he was a prisoner. 

The story is told that the garrison and the 
villagers were having a merrymaking that night, 
and that Clark entered the hall where the young 
men and women were dancing. No one paid 
any attention to him as with folded arms he 
stood leaning against a doorway. Finally an 
Indian who had been lying on the lloor rolled 
over and recognized him. He sprang up with a 
war-whoop, and instantly the fun ceased. Clark 
quietly told them to go on with their dancing, 
only to remember that they danced under the 
American rule antl not under the British. 

Whether this story is true or not, it shows how 
completely Kaskaskia was surprised. The 
r^rench were terribly frightened. They had 
heard so many stories of the fierce " big knives," 



GEORGE ROGERS CLARK I3I 

that they expected to be put to death in tlie 
most barbarous fashion. TrembHui;- with fear 
the men came to Chu"k and beg'oed him to sa\e 
their wives and chikh'en. They offered to L^'iv^e 
anything- and to do anything, even to be sold as 
slaves, if he would have mercy. 

Clark replied that he IkuI come to Kaskaskia 
not to make slaves, but to make free men. He 
did not come to kill women and children, but to 
put an end to the destruction of women and 
childrc;n in Kentucky. 

The I'^'ench listened at first with astonish- 
ment, then with joy. Their sad faces grew 
bright and brighter as they understood the 
meaning of Clark's words, and they hurried off 
to their homes to tell the wonderful news. Then 
laughter and singing took the place of sobs and 
sighs. The houses were throwm open ; the 
streets were decorated ; many colored pavilions 
were built ; and processions w^ere formed to show 
their joy. 

When the French learned that Clark was 
planning to march to Vincennes and the other 
forts, they told him that there was no need of 
that. There were only a few English soldiers at 
the forts. The Frenchmen at Vincennes would 
be just as glad to get rid of their English mas- 
ters as they at Kaskaskia had been. They 



132 AMERICAN I'lOiNEERS 

would send some of their own men to tell their 
brothers the joyful news. Colonel Clark con- 
sented to their plan, though he did not forget to 
send a spy along with the delegation to see that 
they remained true to their promise. The French- 
men were honest, and thus without bloodshed the 
forts came into the hands of the Americans. 

Up in Canada it was with anything but pleas- 
ure that the English heard of Clark's successes. 
An expedition was immediately sent out under 
General Hamilton to retake the forts and cap- 
ture Colonel Clark. Hamilton marched first to 
Vincennes. There were only a few Americans 
at the fort — Captain Helm, the commander, and 
one or two others. Of course Helm had no 
hope of holding the fort against such a superior 
force, but he would not surrender without an ap- 
pearance of defense. He loaded a cannon and 
placed it in the gateway of the fort. When the 
English came near, he stood by with a lighted 
torch in his hand. 

" Halt ! " he cried in a loud voice. 

Hamilton stopped his army and demanded the 
surrender of the fort. 

" No one shall enter until I know the terms," 
Captain Helm replied. 

" You shall have the honors of war," said 
Hamilton. 



GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 



133 



Helm then surrendered. General Hamilton 
was naturally provoked at the trick that had been 
played. Helm was kept a close prisoner, but 
was kindly treated ; for he was a merry man, 
and Hamilton found him good company. 

It was now winter time, and the English de- 







CAI'TAIN HELM SURRENDERING FORT VINCENNES TO IIIE ENGLISH 

cided to wait for spring before capturing Kas- 
kaskia and George Rogers Clark. But Colonel 
Clark was neither idle nor waiting for spring. 
Through a Spanish friend. Captain Vigo, of St. 
Louis, he had learned that many of the English 
soldiers had been sent back to Canada. Vigro 
had been captured near Vincennes and had been 



134 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

kept a prisoner for some time. Finally General 
Hamilton allowed him to go free if he would 
promise not to do anything on his way to St. 
Louis that would harm the British cause. Cap- 
tain Vigo readily made the promise and hurried 
home. But he remained in St. Louis only long 
enouofh to chancre his clothes and oret a new 
stock of provisions. Then he went as fast as his 
boat could go to Kaskaskia. 

Colonel Clark said, " If I do not capture Gen- 
eral Hamilton, General Hamilton will capture 
me." He trot tog^ether a force of one hundred 
and seventy men. Part of them were his own 
Kentuckians, every man of whom he could trust 
as he could trust himself. The rest were French 
volunteers, and he was not sure of a single one. 
They set out the first week of February on what 
was to be one of the hardest marches ever 
known. 

When the snows are melting and the rivers 
have overflowed their banks, travel is very diffi- 
cult in southern Illinois and Indiana. Even at 
the present day, when roads have been made and 
bridges built, it is bad enough. One hundred 
and twenty-five years ago, when there were no 
roads and no bridges, the country was almost 
impassable. The mud was deep everywhere, 
and much of the way the ground was covered 



GEORGE ROGERS CLARK I 35 

with water. Frequently it reached to the knee, 
oftentimes to the waist, and sometimes even to 
the breast. Through this half-frozen water and 
through this mud these one hundred and seventy 
men marched the two hundred and forty miles 
to Vincennes. 

If Clark had not always led the way, if he had 
not known just how to keep up the spirits of the 
men, if he had shown the slightest sign of dis- 
couragement, they never would have reached 
their destination. When the way was hard, 
Clark would start a favorite song. At night he 
always had some kind of feast or dance to take 
away the memories of the hardships of the day. 
He was everywhere, cheering, encouraging, urg- 
ing, and usually the men responded. 

But one morning they refused to go on. The 
night before had been cold, and the water had 
frozen over. Colonel Clark urofed and threat- 
ened, but the men would not move. In 
one of the companies was a little drummer 
boy. He was called the " little antic drummer 
boy," because he was so full of tricks and mis- 
chief. In the same company was a big sergeant, 
tall and broad and strong. Clark placed the 
drummer boy on the shoulders of the sergeant 
and told them to lead the way. They plunged 
into the ice and water, the drummer merrily 



136 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



beating the charge. Clark waving his sword 
above his head and shoutinof " Forward! " fol- 
lowed. They had to break the ice before them 
with their hands, but the men forgot their ill 
temper and went on. After that each day was 
worse than the day before, and the last day was 




THE SERGEANT AND THE DRUMMER BOY 

the worst day of all. They arrived before Vin- 
cennes thoroughly exhausted, but their coming 
was a complete surprise. General Hamilton 
was having a game of cards with Captain Helm 
when the shots began rattling around the chim- 
ney. Helm jumped up crying, "Clark has 
come ! " 



GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 1 37 

The Captain kindly warned the EngHsh sol- 
diers to keep away from the port-holes. " Clark's 
men," said he, "will shoot your eyes out." The 
British did not believe that they could be injured 
by rifle-shots at such a distance ; but they did 
not know that the Kentuckians had trained them- 
selves not to miss at that distance a mark the 
size of a silver dollar, and that a port-hole would 
be a large target for them. 

General Hamilton was forced to surrender, 
though he had cannon and ammunition, and 
Clark had only his rifles. The English were 
fresh and well fed, while the Americans were 
tired out and nearly starved. The English flag 
was hauled down ; and Vincennes came into the 
possession of the Americans, never to be lost 
again. 

How many men suffered all their lives because 
of the hardships of their early days, no one will 
ever know. Their self-sacrifice and endurance 
should be a matter of pride to all Americans ; 
and we should honor the memory of such pio- 
neers as these Kentuckians and of such a leader 
as George Rogers Clark. 



CHAPTER XII 

RUFUS PUTNAM 
1738-1824 

T>UFUS PUTNAM was one of the many 
Americans who have accomphshed great 
ends simply through unllinching determination 
to be and to do something. He was born in 
Sutton, Massachusetts, and when he was only 
seven years old his father died. Two years after, 
his mother married Captain Sadler, an inn- 
keeper. Rufus's new father was a very ignorant 
man, who not only cared nothing for books or 
knowledge of any kind for himself, but did not 
want others to care for these things either. So 
Rufus was not sent to school or given any books ; 
and if in some way he obtained one, he was not 
allowed to use it. His stepfather laughed at all 
his efforts ; but this did not lessen his determi-. 
nation to increase his knowledge. 

Sometimes Rufus was given pennies for doing 
jobs for the guests of his father's inn. These 
he saved and with them bought powder and 
shot for an old gun he had. Then, in his spare 



RUFUS PUTNAM 



139 



minutes, he went hunting- for partridges ; and 
with the money he got from their sale, he bought 
a spelHng-book and an arithmetic. But he found 
Httle time to use them ; for his da3^s were well 
filled, and in the evening after his work was done 
he was not allowed 
to use a candle. 
After he was nine 
years old, he went 
to school only three 
weeks ; but he was 
so determined not 
to grow up in ig- 
norance, that he 
was able to get a 
fair knowledge of 
arithmetic and ge- 
ography. In his 
later life he was 
sorry that he had 
not paid more at- 
tention to irrammar and writino- but he was 
his own teacher and " knew not where to begin 
or what course to pursue." 

By the time he was eighteen years old, Rufus 
was as large and as strong as a man. He was 
nearly six feet tall and had broad shoulders and 
long, powerful limbs. He could endure great 




RUFUS IM^INAM 



I40 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



hardships without being wearied and could hold 
his own in any encounter that required strength 
and muscle. So it was not surprising that when 
war broke out between the French and English 
colonies in America, he became a soldier, and 
that he served all through that long struggle. 
After the war closed, he went back to his home 

at Rutland, Massa- 
chusetts, where the 
old house is still stand- 
ing. But whether he 
was tilling his farm 
or buildinor mills or 
hunting in the forests, 
he was alwa)'s learning 
something new or try- 
ing to make more use- 
ful the knowledge he 
already had. 

He had become an 
expert land-surveyor and at the time that he 
left his trade and his family and joined the Revo- 
lutionary Army he was already well known in 
his profession. General Washington soon found 
that in one of the first regiments that had en- 
listed after the battle of Lexington, there was a 
very valuable man. That man was Putnam, and 
he was set to work laying out camps and throw- 




GEORGE WASHINGTON 



RUFUS PUTNAM I4I 

ing up fortifications around Boston. So success- 
ful was he that Washincrton wrote to the Con- 
tinental Congress that the man who had educated 
himself without the aid of schools and teachers 
was of more value than the French officers in the 
army who had been under military training all 
their lives. Putnam was promoted to the rank 
of chief enorineer and later to that of creneral. 

When the war was over and America was free, 
and soldiers and officers went back to their 
homes, some found that their farms were not 
so valuable as they had been before the war, 
six or seven years past. The women and the 
boys had done the best they could ; but weeds 
had overrun the grain fields, and the cattle had 
died or had been taken to feed the army. Some 
who had had trades found that their places had 
been taken by others. 

The soldiers had been paid for all their hard 
years of suffering in promises and not in money, 
and promises go but a little way in restocking 
farms and setting up trades. There seemed no 
chance for these men in their old homes. Many 
beoran to wish that they could oo to some new 
place where people were not so numerous and 
where they could make new homes for themselves 
and their families. General Putnam took up 
the cause of his discouraged fellow-soldiers and 



142 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

helped to obtain land for them in the o;reat coun- 
try bcyontl the mountains and north of the Ohio 
River, where few white men had ever been. 

One December day a company of carpenters 
and mechanics set out from Danvers, Massachu- 
setts, for the West. It was their i)lan to go to 
the upper part of the Ohio River and there build 
a boat which should carr)' the settlers down the 
river. The next month a larger company set 
out. January seems a strange time to start on a 
long journey overland in those days. We must 
remember that there were no steamboats and 
no railroad trains. The whole distance must be 
traveled in slow-going wagons, on horseback, or 
on foot. There were mountains to be crossed 
antl roads to be broken. It would take many 
weeks to go from Boston to Pittsburg. Why 
did they not start in the spring when traveling- 
would be easier ? Because they wanted to reach 
their new homes in time for the spring planting. 
Then they would have food to keep them through 
the next winter. 

The travelers met with many difficulties. In 
the mountains the snow was so deep that the 
horses could not pull the wagons through it. 
Sleds were built, and all the baggage was un- 
packed and packed over again on the sleds. 
Even then the horses could not make a way, and 



RUFUS PUTNAAr I43 

the men had to oo before and di'o- out the road. 
When they reached the river, they were disap- 
pointed to find the boat unfinished. The weather 
had been so cold that the carpenters had made 
little progress. In time, however, everything 
was ready ; and the strange, clumsy craft swung 
out into the stream and lloated down with the 
current. The hopes of the travelers rose as they 
went on. The weather grew warm and spring- 
like. The grass became green, and the trees put 
out their leaves. Everything seemed to grow 
larger and more abundant than back in stony New 
England, and the country looked very fair indeed. 

On the seventh day of April, 1788, the ]\Tay- 
Jlou'cr, as the boat was called, drew up beneath 
little b'ort Ilarmer at the mouth of the Mus- 
kingum River. The guns of the fort fired a 
salute, and the officers and soldiers gave the 
settlers a hearty welcome. The men jumped 
ashore with their axes in their hands, and imme- 
diately their strokes rang out in the clear air. 

On this day was begun the town of Marietta, 
the first permanent settlement in what was to be 
the great state of Ohio. Yet it was not the 
first ; for when General Putnam began to lay 
out the streets of the town and divide up the 
land for farms, he found that somebody had been 
there before them. Everywhere were scattered 



144 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



i^rrcat mounds and high embankments. Some 
seemed to have been used for burial places, some 
for fortifications. Who built them ? Not the 
Indians ; for Indians never built anything more 
permanent than bark wiowams or log-houses. 




I-'roin a />/ti<t<'gr(t/>/t 

THE MARIK/ITA MOUND AS IT LOOKS 'lO-DAY 

When were they built } The forest covered them. 
Some of the trees when cut were found to be 
hundreds of years old. The Indians said that 
the mounds had been built long- ago by people 
who had come from the West. Where they 
went and why they went, the Indians could not 
say ; and no one has ever been able to tell. 

On the top of the highest mound General 
Putnam built a fort large enough to hold all the 
colonists and strong enough to protect them 



RUFUS PUTNAM I45 

from the Indians. Around It the settlers built 
their cabins. Soon fields were cleared and 
planted. The corn grew rapidly in the rich, 
black soil. Stories of its growth were taken 
back to the East by every stray traveler. "It 
grew nine inches in twenty-four hours," wrote 
one settler. Another, who went back for his 
family, said to his neighbor, " Why will you 
waste your time cultivating such land as this ? 
Out in the West we have to stand on tip-toe to 
break off an ear of corn ; while here you have 
to stoop down," And still another, a grave 
doctor of divinity, wrote, " I would as soon get 
lost in it on a cloudy day as in a cedar swamp." 

Of course people were wild to go to the new 
land. They came in all sorts of boats, by the 
hundreds and by the thousands. We must not 
suppose that there were no difficulties, and that 
every year even in Ohio was a good year. There 
came a starving time when the settlers lived on 
roots and herbs and " the children cried for 
bread." An early frost had destroyed the crops, 
and the Indians had driven off the deer. 

Much suffering would have followed if it had 
not been for the kindness and the generosity of 
a Mr. Williams, who had a plantation across the 
Ohio River in western Virginia. He had har- 
vested his large crop early, and it had not been 



146 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



touched by the frost. Nowhere else could corn 
be bouor-ht for less than a dollar and a half a 
bushel. Williams sold it for fifty cents to all 
who came. If any were too poor to buy, he let 
them have corn just the same ; but nebody how- 
ever rich could have a large quantity at one 
time. Men who wanted to help themselves at 




KORT WASlllNGTO.N', TIIK liEGlNNlNc; OF CINCINNATI 

the expense of the poor and suffering" tried to 
buy up his entire stock. They offered a large 
price for it. " No," said Williams, "you shall not 
have a single bushel." 

There was another man to whom the early 
settlers of Ohio owed a great deal. His name was 
John Chapman, but he was more commonly called 
"Johnnie Appleseed." He was a peculiar man 



RUFUS rUTNAM 



147 



wlio always went barefoot in summer and wore 
a broad- brimmed pasteboard hat to keep off the 
sun. He never carried a gun and never took the 
Hfe of any creature. Alone he had set out on the 
banks of the rivers little apple orchards. He 
fenced them in with brush, and year after year 
pruned and cared for them. As settlers came 
to the new country, they found here and there 




A MIDMCHT ESCAI'E TO THE FORT 

orchards waiting for them. Johnnie Appleseed 
was loved by everybody, white man and red 
alike ; and within recent years a monument 
has been erected to his memory at Mansfield, 
Ohio. 

But there was trouble ahead worse than famine. 
The Indians had been watching with jealous eyes 
the forests fall and the corn grow. The region 
north of the Ohio had been their hunting ground, 
and they had said that no white man should ever 
plant corn in Ohio. Now they said, "Before 



148 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



th(j tvvcs shall again put forth their leaves, there 
shall not remain the smoke of a sinolc white 
man's cabin west of the river." 

General Putnam gathered the families of Mari- 
etta within the fort. Men who had keen eye- 
slight and knew how to read all the sio-ns of the 




TIIK OHIO KIVKK AliOl'l' l85<' 
A'lar Mtiysz'illfy Knit lie Ay 

forests were selected to range the woods and 
watch for the first appearance of a retl man. 
One Sunday, when everybody was at church, 
one of these rangers suddenly appeared at the 
door. The word " Indians ! " was enough. The 
roll of the tlruni sounded, the minister stopi)ed 
his sermon ; the men seized their guns, which 
were close at their sides ; the women and the 



RUFUS PUTNAM I49 

children hurried to the shelter of the fort. The 
quiet of the Sabbath Day was broken by the 
sound of arms and the quick word of command. 
All was bustle and commotion. Fortunately, 
this time it was only a false alarm ; but it was 
not always so. 

Later, houses were burned and plundered, 
women and children were killed, and fierce bat- 
tles were fought. Finally the Indians were com- 
pletely defeated, and there was peace once more 
in Ohio. Then again settlers came over the 
mountains from the East. Settlements were 
started which grew into towns and then into 
great cities. Comfortable houses took the place 
of rude cabins, and Ohio grew to be rich and 
prosperous. 

In its troubles and in its prosperity, General 
Putnam was ever a safe guide. He was always 
ready to give his assistance and his counsel. 
Me helped to found schools and colleges ; he 
built churches and never refused to aid any good 
cause. Many men, perhaps of greater ability 
than he, have since his time guided the affairs 
of the State ; but Rufus Putnam will ever be 
lovingly known as the Father of Ohio. 



CHAPTER XIII 



WILLIAM CLARK 



I 



1770-1838 

N Caroline County, Viroinia, just before the 
breakino^ out of the Revohitionar)^ War, was 

born a child who 
became a famous 
pioneer, first in 
Kentucky and af- 
terwards in Mis- 
souri. II is name 
was William Clark; 
and he was a 
younger brother 
of George Rogers 
Clark, of whom we 
have heard in a 
previous chapter. 
They were the 
sons of a sturdy 
and honest couple, 
John and Ann Rogers Clark. In their home were 
ten children, four girls and six boys. Four of 





WILLIAM CLARK 



151 



these boys distinguished themselves in the Rev- 
olution. William was the youngest of the six 
and too small to be a soldier then ; but later 
on, there came plenty of opportunities for the 
little red-headed 
brother to serve 
his country faith- 
fully. 

When he was 
fourteen years old, 
his father moved 
the family to Ken- 
tucky. Their new 
home was just 
south of Louisville, 
and they named 
it Mulberry Hill. 
Here then William 

Clark orrew to man- // ■ jy — y^ 
hood.^ In those ^^-^^^^'"''^^^^^^ a^^c^^r^^ 
days there was plenty of game in Kentucky — 
buffalo, deer, and bear. William was a famous 
hunter and excelled the Indians themselves in 
imitating the bark of the wolf, the hoot of the 
owl, and the whistle of the whip-poor-will. At 
an early age he became acquainted with the 
methods of Indian warfare. He was scarcely 
eighteen when he was appointed ensign in the 




152 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

army, and four years lator he was made lieu- 
tenant. 

William Clark and Meriwether Lewis had 
been l)oys tog'ether in Virginia and had become 
close friends. Lewis was private secretary to 
President Jefferson ; and in 1803, at the request 
of the President, he was appointed by Congress 
to command an exploring expedition across the 
continent to. the Pacific Ocean. Jefferson told 
him that hv. could choose his own lieutenant, and 
he at once named his friend, William Clark. 
rh(? party under Captain Lewis and his lieu- 
tenant was made up of nine young men from 
Kentucky, fourteen soldiers, and several other 
persons. The military leader of the expedition 
was really Clark, and his knowledge of Inchan 
life had much inlliience upon its success. 

In the spring of 1804 the expedition set out 
from St. Louis. The whole town turned cnit to 
see them off. As the boats pushed away from 
the bank the fort fired ^ salute and the people 
cheered and waved their handkerchiefs. When 
they had glided out of sight, the townspeople 
turned to tlunr homes prophesying that they 
would nevcn" return. J h(;ir fears were not 
strange, for the country to be explored was then 
entirely unknown. In most portions of it no 
white man had ever been. No one knew what 



WILLIAM CLARK 



153 



inoiiiUain ranocs were there, what lakes, rivers, 
or Iiuliaii tribes. The Missouri brought down a 
great vohi me of water from somewhere; but where 
it came from, no 
one knew. 

There were no 
raib-oads in those 
(.la\s and no mails 
in that [)art of 
the country. One 
year went by ; two 
years ; antl still no 
news of the ex- 
plorers had been 
brought in b)' wan- 
dering hunters. 
The people of St. 
Louis and Presi- 
dent Jefferson him- 
self beoan to fear 
that the party had 
been either lost or 
killed by the In- 
dians. ThcMi one day, at the end of twenty-eight 
months, some boats were sighted comino- down 
the Missouri River. They were the boats of Lewis 
and Clark. The good news travcded fast, and the 
people turned out to give them a hearty welcome. 




LEWIS IN TUli CUSTUMK 
SCOUT 



II' A WESTKRN 



154 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

In those twenty-eight months Lewis and Clark 
had crossed the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific 
and returned. They had been most fortunate 
all the way. Adventures and narrow escapes 
they had had, to be sure, but only one of their 
men had died and only one had attempted to 
desert. They had gathered great store of in- 
formation about the country for the use of the 
white settlers that followed in their track, and 
the knowledge that Clark gained of the charac- 
ter and habits of the Indians made a difference 
in the whole after-history of the territory and 
state of Missouri. 

William Clark now settled in St. Louis. Con- 
gress made him brigadier-general for upper 
Louisiana, and President Madison appointed 
him governor of Missouri Territory, an office 
which he held for eight years, until Missouri 
became a state. After that he was, until his 
death, superintendent of Indian affairs west of 
the Mississippi. 

Let us now see what were the conditions in 
St. Loiiis one hundred years ago. Just before 
Lewis and Clark started out on their long jour- 
ney, the whole vast territory of Louisiana was 
sold to the United States by Napoleon Bona- 
parte. It extended from the Gulf of Mexico to 
the present boundaries of Canada and from the 



WILLIAM CLARK 



155 



Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains. People 
complained that President Jefferson had gone 



^ 









CVn^ \Winnipeg 




CESS 



ION 






<?- 



■\- 




MAP SHOWING GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES WEST OF THE 
MISSISSIPPI 

beyond the powers given him by the Constitu- 
tion, and they made all sorts of doleful prophesies 
of the disasters that would come to the country 
because of the Louisiana purchase. Of course 



156 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

these prophecies never came to pass, and the 
whole country is now very glad that President 
Jefferson was far-siorhted enoueh to dare to 
stretch his authority " until it cracked," as he 
said. 

This great territory was too large to be man- 
aged by one governor. It was divided into two 
parts. The southern had its capital at New 
Orleans, and the northern at St. Louis. St. 
Louis was at that time a little village of less than 
one thousand inhabitants. It had just two long- 
streets, and one of these was known as the 
" Street of Barns." There were one hundred 
and eighty houses, mostly built of logs or stones. 
It was said that St. Louis merchants kept a large 
stock of goods ; but a store was only one room 
in a dwellino-house, and the stock of eoods was 
often not so large that it could not be conven- 
iently kept in a chest. Sugar sold for two dol- 
lars a pound, and coffee brought the same price. 

St. Louis had no post office until two years 
after Lewis and Clark returned from the far 
West, and even then it took six weeks to carry 
a letter to the Atlantic coast. Before the post 
office was established, letters were usually 
brought in by the merchants when they returned 
from their shopping down the river. They 
stuck them up in tlicir windows, where they 



WILLIAM CLARK 1 57 

Stayed until the owners called for them. It was 
181 7 before the first steamboat came up the 
Mississippi, 

One hundred years ago St. Louis was a far- 
away pioneer town. What changes it has seen in 
these one hundred years ! To-day it is a city of 
half a million people, with great manufactories 
and immense commercial interests. It is an 
important railroad center, and there are twenty- 
eight miles of wharves along the river banks. 

General Clark had no easy task to keep the 
peace in and around St. Louis. The greatest 
body of Indians in the whole country was to be 
found near the Mississippi River. In Missouri 
hostile Indians, horse-thieves, criminals of all 
sorts, kept the pioneer settlers constantly on the 
watch. While the men were working in the 
fields, sentinels had to be kept on guard. The 
little children could not play outside the forts, 
and no one felt secure by night or by day. It 
is a wonder that the white pioneers were not al- 
together massacred and wiped out. Their safety 
was due in a large measure to the skill and the 
wisdom of General Clark. He succeeded in 
smoothing out the difficulties and making peace 
between the red men and the white. 

Never was a man more wise than Clark in all 
his dealings with the Indians. They came to 



158 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



trust him as they trusted no other white man, 
"The Red Headed Chief," as the Indians called 
him, was loved by all the trib(?s from the Mis- 
sissippi River to the Pacific Ocean. They feared 
him, too, l)ecause he knew their character so 
well that he was often able to foresee their 
plans and was always prepared for any outbreak. 



'*'*WWt "^ 


.i.' UiJ/»«a» 


""^^M 










miitt^^ 






n' 


1 «taL^ 


Sm^ 


p^ 




SSKJ 




^♦^ 




lImHI 


^^^^ 




SSS^Sf^ 


* 






1 


w^*1 


k^^^9B|H 


n 


1 


IbTTa ^••!^ai 




H 


n 




H 



Froiti ait olii print 

TllK CITY OK WASHINGTON IN 1S25 

Once, after an Indian war, he decided to g-ive 
the tribes an object lesson. Me thought that if 
the Indians could see how great and powerful 
the llnited States realh' was, they wcnild come 
to the conclusion that it would be useless for 
them to go on the war-path e\ery little while 
against the rapidly increasing settlements. So 
he summoned to St. Louis the chiefs of a half- 



WILLIAM CLARK I59 

dozen tribes. When they had gathered together, 
he advised them first of all to make peace with 
one another. They followed his counsel and 
buried the hatchet with great ceremony. Then 
he took them to the city of Washington, — at 
that time, only a small town of scattered build- 
ings, — where they had an interview with Presi- 
dent Madison and made a treaty with him. 
They saw all the sights of the capital, visited 
other cities in the East, and then reUirned to 
St. Louis. The journey accomplished all that 
General Clark had hoped : they never dug up 
the hatchet they had buried, but always kept 
the [)eace with one another. 

One of the nations that entered into this 
peace compact was the Osage. When Lewis 
and Clark were on their exploring expedition, 
the Indians told them an interesting legend 
of the origin of their nation. Long years ago a 
snail lived on the bank of the Osage River. lie 
was satisfied with his quiet life and had no de- 
sire to chanore it. But a cfreat tlood came, and 
the snail was carried by the rushing waters into 
the Missouri. When the river went down, he 
found himself on the bank of a stream in a far 
warmer country than that he had left. The hot 
rays of the sun had a peculiar effect upon his 
body. It grew larger and larger, until at last 



i6o 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



he discovered that he was no longer a snail but 
a man. 

Still he did not forget his old home on the 
bank of the Qsage River. He started back on 
his long journey, but soon grew hungry. The 
food that was suitable for a snail did not sat- 




From an old print 

A MISSOURI VILLAGE IN 184O 

isfy him now that he was a man, and he did not 
know what he wanted nor how to get it. For- 
tunately the Great Spirit made his appearance 
and showed him how to kill and to cook deer, 
and how to make the skin into clothes. He no 
longer suffered from cold and hunger. His 
limbs grew strong, and he made good progress. 

When he reached his old home, a new trouble 
came to him. A beaver met him and demanded 
what he was doing in his territory. He replied 



WILLIAM CLARK l6l 

that that land was as much his as the beaver's, 
for he had once lived on the banks of the river. 
While they were loudly and furiously discussing 
the question, the beaver's daughter came along. 
She was young and beautiful, and the man said 
that he would live at peace with the beaver if he 
would give him his daughter for a wife. The 
beaver consented to this plan ; the two were 
married and became the parents of the Osage 
nation. 

When Clark had grown too feeble to go out 
among the Indian tribes, they came to St. Louis 
to visit him. They brought their families with 
them and camped on the banks of the river. 
General Clark received them in his council 
chamber where were hung all the curiosities that 
he had gathered in his long dealings with the 
Indians. Here he heard their complaints, set- 
tled their disputes and advised them in all their 
difficulties. While they were in St. Louis, he 
gave them their food ; but they always cooked 
it themselves at their camp. In the morning 
after breakfast the chiefs would dress in their 
best garments and parade through the streets 
singing and dancing. They would call at house 
after house and ask for money. If they received 
it, they would sing and dance again ; but if their 
requests were denied, they would wrap their 



1 62 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



blankets around them and sullenly stride away. 
Every summer they returned, so long as General 
Clark lived. When he died, St. Louis saw its 
picturesque visitors no more. 

Clark's death occurred on the first day of 




From an oigraviiig of \'&.\o 

ST. LOUIS ABOUT THE TIME OF CLARK's DEATH 

September, 1838. He was not a very old man, 
being only one month over sixty-eight years of 
age. He had said to his son, " I want to sleep 
in sight and sound of the Mississippi." His 
request was granted. His grave is in the city 
which for so many years had been his home 
and not far from the banks of the " Father of 
Waters." 



CHAPTER XIV 



DAVID CROCKETT 



1786-1836 



A MONG thc! pioneers who found tlic;ir way 
over the mountains from the colony on 
tlie Yadkin River into Tennessee was a tall, raw- 
honed, resolute man 
of Irish birth. I lis 
name was Crockett, 
and he had been a 
brave soldier in the 
Revolutionary War. 
He made his new 
home in the hamlet 
called Limestone, in 
Greene County, not 
far from the Caro- 
lina line. Here, our hero, David Crockett, was 
born in the year i 786. 

In his boyhood David knew little but hard- 
ship. His entire school life was less than six 
months, and that was when he had grown almost 
to manhood. He learned to read and to write 




DAVID CUOCKETT 



164 - AMERICAN PIONEERS 

and but little else. When he was ten years of age 
his father hired him out to a Dutchman who had 
made his home far away in the wild, unsettled 
interior, four hundred miles to the westward. 
With his employer younir David traveled on 
foot this long distance. After a month or two 
he was so homesick in the wilderness, with no 
friend near him, that he slipped away, and alone 
made his way back again over the four hundred 
miles to his father's house. 

What a journey for a boy of only twelve years! 
Think of it. His long trip with his employer 
from his father's house through the wilderness 
must have been difficult and hazardous enough; 
but for him, boy as he was, to retrace his steps 
through that long stretch of unbroken wilder- 
ness, in constant danger from wild beasts and 
Indians, with rivers to cross, food to procure 
and cook — all this required a courage far from 
common in a boy of twelve years of age. 

David was always loyal to his family, and a 
charming story is told of his dutiful conduct 
towards his parents. When he was nearly seven- 
teen years of age, he worked a whole year to 
pay a note for seventy-six dollars which was held 
against his father, who was unable to meet it. 

Through his entire life, David Crockett was a 
pioneer. After coming to manhood he made his 



DAVID CROCKETT 1 65 

first home on tlic Elk River in Lincoln County, 
Tennessee, on the border of Al;il)ama. y\fter- 
wartls, when sc^ttlers began to oathcr around him, 
he; pushed further west and built his cal)in in 
" one of the wildest parts of the; State." I le did 
not remain lono- even here. As the countr)- 
filled up he moved further west and pitched his 
tent on Shoal Creek in Lawrence Count)-, "in 
a wihl anil desolate region." Here the settlers 
soon organized a local government and a|)p()ini('d 
Crockett a magistrate. From this time he rose 
rapidly and before long- acquired a wide reputa- 
tion. 

iMrst of all our hero was a famous huntcM-. lie 
knew the haunts of the wild animals and could 
always find game. He was a sure; marksman; 
and so accurate was his aim and s(^ well known 
was his success as a hunter that the stor)' became 
current that once on a tinu; when he had taken 
aim at an opossum, the "varmint " called out to 
him, " Don't shoot, Colonel, don't shoot. I'll 
come down." 

The opossum called him "Colonial", because 
the people had made him colonel of tlu; militia. 
He was rc^peatedly elected a member of the State 
legislature, where he did good service and won 
golden oi)inions from his fellow law-makers. 
Crockett had by diligence and hard labor 



l66 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

acquired some property. He now built a dam 
across Shoal Creek and put up a mill, which soon 
after was swept away by fire. He gave up all 
that he had and paid his debts to the last cent. 
One who knew him well said, " He was a great 
exemplar of fortitude in disaster, cheerfulness in 
misfortune, and honesty in his dealings. The 
loss of his property in Lawrence County tested 
his honesty. He gave up after that disaster 
all he possessed for the benefit of his credit- 
ors and beofan the fiorfit over a^rain with cheer- 
fidness and hopefulness." 

He now made another move toward the sun- 
setting. He built his new home on the Albion 
River near the western boundary of the State. 
Thus in four counties, beginning on the eastern 
borders and pushing westward almost to the 
Mississippi River, he had been a pioneer in the 
new land of Tennessee. 

After he had served the people in the State 
legislature, he had the idea that he should yet 
be a member of Congress. It is said that he 
traveled on foot from his home in southern Ten- 
nessee to Washington to see what Congress was 
like. We must not forget that he had almost 
no school education. He could read and write 
.and could speak in public in a crude, backwoods 
fashion. He had se(m much, traveled somewhat, 



DAVID CROfKETT 



167 



observed everything within his reach, and drawn 
his own conclusions. He was full of oddities 
and eccentricities, but withal he was by no means 




DANIEL WEBSTER SPEAKING IN THE SENATE 

lacking in " large, round-about common sense." 

The story goes that the very next day after 

his arrival in Washintrton, Mr. Webster, the 



l68 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

great orator from Massachusetts, made one of 
his famous speeches in the Senate. In the even- 
ing, at a reception, Colonel Crockett was intro- 
duced to Mr. Webster, when the following con- 
versation ensued : 

" Wahl, Mr. Webster, I heared your speech to- 
day, and do you want to know what I think of 

J- • 

"Certainly," replied Webster, "I should be 
pleased to know what so distinguished a man as 
Colonel Crockett thinks of my humble efforts." 

"Wahl, Mr. Webster, I'll tell ye. I heared 
your hull speech. I stood there, a leenin' up 
agin the post, and I heared the hull on't, for two 
mortal hours, and I don't think you'r what you'r 
cracked up to be." Then waiting a minute he 
added, " for there wa-n't a word in it that I 
couldn't understand." 

Afterwards Crockett was elected to Congress 
and served three terms. We are told, " He was 
popular in Washington where he was noted not 
only for his eccentricity of manner and speech, 
but also for his strong common sense and shrewd- 
ness." His favorite motto was, " Be sure you 
are right, then go ahead" — a very good motto for 
us all. 

In May, 1830, Colonel Crockett made a speech 
in Congress on the bill for the " Removal of the 



DAVID CROCKETT 



169 



Indians beyond the Mississippi." He stated at 
the outset that he should vote against the bill, 
and that he should like to give his reasons for 
the vote ; that he did not know that any man 
within five hundred miles of the place where he 







ROOM IN lllL iNAllONAL LAl'llOl I Ml) 1,\ iUC llolSK OK KETRK- 
SENTATIVES UNTIL 1859, NOW STATUARY HALL 

lived would vote as he should, but he must vote 
as his conscience dictated.* 

He said : " I have my constituents to settle 
with, I know, and I should like as well as any 
other gentleman to please them, but I have also 
a settlement to make at the bar of my God. 

* The following quotations are from the Congressional Globe. 
Colonel Crockett's speech was revised tor publication, and there- 
fore does not appear in its original backwoods phrasing. 



I/O AMERICAN PIONEERS 

What my conscience dictates to be just and right 
I want to do, be the consequences what they may. 
... I must vote as my conscience and judg- 
ment dictate without the yol^e of any party on 
me, or. the driver at my heels, with his whip in 
hand, commanding me to gee-haw-whoa, just at 
his pleasure." He said that he knew personally 
many Cherokees, and he had heard them say : 
" No, we will take death here at our homes. 
Let them come and tomahawk us here at home : 
we are willing to die, but never to remove." 

He then stated that no man would be more 
willing than he to see the Indians removed, 
if it could be done in a manner agreeable to 
themselves, but not otherwise. He added : " I 
care not for popularity, unless it can be obtained 
by upright means. ... I have been told that I 
do not understand English grammar. That is 
very true. I have never been to school six 
months in my life. I have raised myself to be 
what I am by the labor of my hands. But I do 
not on that account yield up my privilege as a 
representative of freemen on this floor." 

Crockett's vote on this bill helped to defeat 
him for re-election in the fall of 1830; but he 
was elected again in 1832 and served another 
term, when he was again defeated. President 
Jackson's influence being turned against him. 



DAVID CROCKETT 



171 



Soon after this he migrated to Texas and 
engaged in the struggle of that country for inde- 
pendence from Mexico. He was with Colonel 
Travis and Colonel Bowie in the fatal siege of the 
Alamo (a'la-mo). The Alamo was a strong fort 
with stout walls twenty feet high and covered 
two or three acres of ground. It was defended 




11 IK ALAMO 



by about one hundred and fifty brave Texans, 
and the besieging army numbered fully four 
thousand Mexicans under command of the 
famous General Santa Anna. The siege lasted 
thirteen days when a desperate assault was made, 
and all the Texans but six were killed. These 
six men, including Colonels Crockett and Travis, 
surrendered to their overwhelming;' foe ; but, 



172 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



although they were prisoners of war, they were 
shot by orders from Santa Anna. 

Thus perished Colonel David Crockett, one 
of Tennessee's bravest and most distinguished 
sons. One who was personally acquainted with 
him bore this testimony : " He was a hero, 
statesman, and martyr, who was in life the peer 
of any unselfish man that adorned the annals 
of a civilized people. He was a favorite of all 
classes, whether rich or poor, high or low, Whigs 
or Democrats, dudes in the city or hunters in the 
country." 




Railroad Travel in Crockett's Day 



CHAPTER XV 

SAMUEL HOUSTON 
1 793- 1 863 

CAMUEL HOUSTON is one of the stran- 
gest and one of the most interesting charac- 
ters in American History. His life was full of 
contradictions, and its story reads like a tale of 
the imagination. He lived the life of an Indian; 
yet he was elected the president of the Republic 
of Texas and a senator of the United States. 
He was a roisterer among roisterers, yet he be- 
came a good husband and a kind father. He 
was so proud that his enemies claimed that he 
wrote his name so that it would read " I am 
Houston ;" yet he became a humble Christian. 

Samuel Houston, or "Sam Houston," as he 
was almost always called, was born in Virginia 
about ten years after the close of the Revolu- 
tion. His father died when he was thirteen 
years old, and then his mother moved across the 
mountains into the wilderness of Tennessee. 
There were nine children, six boys and three 
girls ; and all, so far as they were able, were 



174 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



kept busy cutting' down trees, pulling out roots, 
and planting- and tilling the land. However, the 
life of a boy or a girl even in the wilderness was 
not all hard work. There w^ere schools and 

academies, and a 
family was very 
poor indeed that 
tlid not send its 
children to school 
for a few weeks in 
the year, 

Samuel was a 
stubborn lad. Peo- 
ple used to say that 
"Sam H o u s t o n 
would either be a 
great Indian chief, 
die in the mad- 
house, or be gov- 
ernor of the State, 
for it was certain 
that some dreadful 
thing would overtake him." He very early 
developed a dislike for school. Back in Vir- 
ginia during his father's lifetime, he could not 
be induced to go to school before he was 
eight years old. Then, after he once began to 
attend, he had his own ideas as to what he 








W^Ms^/M. 



SAMUEL HOUSTON 1 75 

sliould and should not study. Therefore, since 
his ideas were frequently not those of his teach- 
ers, he often got into trouble. At one time, 
while attending an academy in Tennessee, he 
decided that he wanted to study Latin and 
Greek. The teacher refused to teach him. Per- 
haps he did not know Latin and Greek himself. 
Houston left the school saying that he would 
never recite a lesson of any other kind so lono- 
as he lived. 

Soon after this, Sam and his eldest brother 
had a quarrel. The brother wanted him to be- 
come a merchant and found him a position in a 
store. Sam had no liking for an indoor life. It 
was too civilized and too confining. One day 
he disappeared, and it was several weeks before 
he was found. And where ? Livine with the 
Indians across the Tennessee River. He told 
his friends that they might go home as soon as 
they pleased. He liked to measure deer tracks 
better than tape and preferred the liberty of the 
red man to the tyranny of his brothers. There- 
fore he was going to stay where he was. Com- 
mands and pleadings were of no avail. His 
discoverers returned, and Sam remained with 
the Indians. Once he went home because his 
clothes had worn out, but he soon returned to 
his wild life. A chief adopted him as his son, 



1/6 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

and he was o^iven an Indian name. He wore 
the dress of an Indian and learned to speak the 
Cherokee lanijuacre, which no white man had 
ever learned before. 

Finally he got into debt for powder and shot 
and went back to civilization to earn money to 
pay his bill. One would guess a long time be- 
fore he would guess how Houston earned this 
money. He opened a school and became its 
teacher! The tuition was eight dollars a year 
for each pupil. One third was to be paid in 
corn, one third in calico, such as hunting shirts 
were made of, and one third in money. The 
pioneers thought that his price was high, but 
the school became so popular that most of the 
children of the neighborhood attended. 

Houston used to look back upon his school- 
keeping career with great satisfaction. Long 
after, when he was a senator, Colonel Peter 
Burke said to him, " Now, Houston, you have 
been commander-in-chief of the Texan army, 
president of the Republic, and senator of the 
United States. In which of these offices or in 
what period of your career have you felt the 
greatest pride and satisfaction ?" 

" Well, Burke," replied Houston, " when a 
young man in Tennessee I kept a country 
school, being then about eighteen years of age 



SAMUEL HOUSTON \'J'] 

and a tall, strapping fellow. At noon after the 
luncheon, which I and my pupils ate together 
out of our baskets, I would go out into the 
woods and cut me a *' sour wood " stick, turn it 
carefully into circular spirals and thrust one half 
of it into the fire which would turn it blue, leav- 
ing the other half white. With this emblem of 
ornament and authority in my hand, dressed in 
a hunting shirt of flowered calico, a long queue 
down my back, and the sense of authority over 
my pupils, I experienced a higher degree of dig- 
nity and self-satisfaction than from any other 
office or honor which I have since held," 

Houston's school-keeping experience did not 
last long. When the War of 1812 broke out 
between England and the United States, he en- 
listed as a private soldier. His friends thought 
that he had disgraced his family and ruined his 
prospects because he had not sought to get an 
appointment as an officer. He told them that 
he would rather honor the ranks than disgrace a 
commission. His mother seemed to understand 
his peculiar disposition better than the others. 
She brought out a musket and presented it to 
him with a little speech. "Go," she said, "and 
remember, too, that while the door of my cot- 
tage is open to brave men, it is eternally shut to 
cowards." 



178 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



Sam shouldered his musket and marched off 
to the war. He was fortunate enough to serve 
under General Andrew Jackson, who quickly 
discovered that he would make a good drill offi- 
cer. He had had his practice years before when 
he spent his time drilling- his schoolmates instead 

of learning his lessons. He 
received his promotion, ditl 
good service and earned 
the friendship of Jackson. 
It is sakl that Jackson was 
the only man whom Hous- 
ton thought wiser than 
himself — the only one who 
could cause him to chanoe 
his opinions or his actions. 
During the war Hous- 
ton was severely wounded and carried home to 
his mother. Every one thought he would never 
get well. Even the doctor refused to care for 
him, saying that the case was hopeless. How- 
ever, get well he did ; and he lived to fight 
many battles in war and in peace, though his 
wound troubled him all his life. 

Houston next turned his attention to the study 
of law, and then to politics. He was elected to 
Congress and later became governor of Tennes- 
see, thus l)ringing to pass one part of the old 




ANDRKW JACKSON 



SAMUEL HOUSTON 1 79 

prophecy. Houston never did anything just Hke 
anybody else and he never paid much attention 
to the fashions of the tailor. His dress on the 
day he was inaugurated governor was a peculiar 
combination of Indian, soldier, and citizen dress. 
On his head was a tall, bell-shaped, black beaver 
hat. Around his neck was a patent-leather mili- 
tary stock. His shirt was ruffled, his trousers 
were of black silk, gathered at the waist and of 
the same size from seat to ankle. His stockings 
were silk and embroidered, and his shoes had 
silver buckles. Over all this splendor he wore 
a bright Indian huntinor shirt belted about the 
waist with a red sash embroidered with bead 
work and fastened with a lar^e buckle. 

After his term of governorship, Houston again 
had some family difficulties ; and again he left 
civilization and went to his- old friends, the 
Cherokees, who had now moved across the Mis- 
sissippi to the Arkansas. John Jolly, his adopted 
father, was glad to see him ; but he said, " My 
son has not acted wisely. He should have 
remained among his people." The next years 
were far from being lived as they should have 
been. Houston got into bad habits and gave 
way to all his evil passions. Finally, when he 
had grown tired of this life, he heard of the 
struorcrle that was ofoincr on in Texas, where the 



l8o AMERICAN PIONEERS 

American settlers had revolted against the Mexi- 
cans. 

One day, as he was walking on the river bank 
with a merchant named John Henry, he suddenly 
said, " Henry, let us go to Texas, for I am tired 
of this country and of this life. Go with me, 
and I will make a fortune for us both. We are 
not fit for merchants, never were, and never will 
be. I am going, and in that new country I will 
make a vian of myself again." 

Houston kept his word. When he reached 
Texas he was appointed commander-in-chief of 
the army and a new day began for the discour- 
aged Texan s. At San Jacinto he met General 
Santa Anna who had so cruelly put to death 
David Crockett and his companions at the Alamo. 
Houston's battle cry, " Remember the Alamo!" 
inspired his soldiers to such courage that the 
Mexican army was defeated and Santa Anna 
tied disofuised as a common soldier. 

One day, as Houston was lying on his cot 
weary and half sick, a soldier rode up to the tent. 
Behind him was a little man dressed in a cotton 
shirt, linen trousers, and worsted slippers. The 
Mexicans who were hanging around cried, " El 
Presidente ! El Santa Anna ! " He was led into 
the tent, and Houston half arose to receive him. 
The captive made a low bow and said, " I am 



SAMUEL HOUSTON 



i8i 



General Antonio de Santa Anna, President of 
the Mexican Republic, and I claim to be a pris- 
oner of war at your disposal." 

Houston motioned for him to be seated on an 
ammunition box and sent for an interpreter. 
Santa Anna then said that the man who had con- 
quered the great- 
est general of the 
West must consid- 
er himself a re- 
markable man, and 
he begged him to 
be generous to the 
vanquished. Hous- 
ton coolly replied, 
"You should have 
remembered that 
at the Alamo.". In 
spite of the im- 
plied threat, Santa Anna was kindly treated. He 
was sent by Houston to Washington and after a 
short captivity was released. 

When the Americans organized the Republic 
of Texas, Houston was elected its first president. 
He had conquered many of his bad habits and 
now set to work to do the very best he could for 
his adopted country. The people respected 
him ; two things, it is said, could always bring the 




ANTONIO LOl'EZ DE SANTA ANNA 



I82 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



Texans out, "a circus and Sam Houston." All 
successful men have their enemies, and among 
Houston's was one who had said that he would 
shoot him dead the first time he saw him. It 
happened that he had never seen Houston, so 

Houston deter- 
mined to con- 
quer him. One 
day while out 
riding with his 
staff of officers, 
he came to this 
man's house. 

" We have 
traveled far 
enough. Here 
is a good stop- 
pi ng- place," 
said Houston. 
All the staff 
urged him to go further, but Houston called 
and inquired if they could get lodgings for the 
night. The wife who came at his call replied 
that she would be glad to entertain them. 
Houston dismounted and seated himself on the 
veranda, and his companions took care of the 
horses and the baggage. Houston was very 
fond of children ; and as soon as he saw the 




TEXAN COWBOYS 



SAMUEL HOUSTON 



183 



children of the family playing near by, he called 
them to him and they quickly became friends. 
He told them story after story, and his hostess 
and his host became as interested as the children. 

When supper was about to be served, Houston 
asked his host to wait a moment. " My friend," 
he said, "although I 
do not profess re- 
ligion, still I always 
ask God's blessing 
when I partake of 
his bounty. Allow 
me to ask a bless- 
mo^. 

" Certainly, sir," 
the man replied. 

All through the 
meal-time Houston 
talked cheerfully, 
ind the whole fam- '-one star flag of the texas republic 

ily were delighted with their unknown guest. 
When bedtime came, Houston asked. " Have 
you a Bible? It is always my habit to read a 
portion of the Scriptures before I retire." 

A Bible was found, and Houston read and ex- 
plained a portion. Then he said, " Having 
done all I usually do at home, we are ready to 
retire." 




184 AMERICAN riUNEERS 

The staff had been cautioned not to use his 
name or address him by any title ; but the next 
morning one forgot and said as the horses were 
brought up, " General, we are ready to start." 

The man looked up quickly. "General! Who?" 
he asked. 

" General Houston," Houston replied. "Hous- 
ton, himself," 

" Are you General Houston? " asked his host. 
1 am, sir. 

"Well," he said, "I have always said that I 
would kill you on sight ; but, sir, any man that 
can talk to my wife and children as you have 
talked, ask such a blessing at meals, read the 
Bible and comment upon it as you have done is 
always welcome at my house." 

" Well," said Houston, " what must we pay 
you for your trouble and hospitality ?" 

" Nothing, sir. You and your staff can call 
as often as you please. From this time on I 
shall be a Houston man." 

When Texas was admitted as a state of the 
Union, Houston was sent to the Senate. He 
never took part in any of the great debates, but 
sat at his desk whittling toys for children and 
grumbling at the long speeches. He was always 
interested in the Indians and did all he could 
for them. Once, when a party of chiefs came 



SAMUEL HOUSTON 



185 



up to Washington from Texas, the white people 
who had thought that Indians had no affection 
for any one discovered that they loved one man 
at least. As soon as they saw Houston, they 
ran to him and clasping him in their arms called 




THE rUESKNT CAl'll'UI, OK TEXAS 



him, "Father." "I never knew a treaty," Hous- 
ton once said, " that was made and carried out in 
good faith which was violated by the Indians." 

One other story illustrates the great change 
that came over General Houston during the lat- 
ter part of his life. When in Washington, he 
joined the church and became a devoted mem- 
ber. One Saturday night at the close of a call 



1 86 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

made by his pastor, he said, " Brother S., is 
there anything I can do for you ?" 

" No, General," he repHed. " I have no 
tax upon you at present." Then the pastor 
remembered that Houston had a quarrel 
with another member of the church, and that 
the next day the Lord's Supper was to be 
celebrated. 

"General," he said, "as a man, I have nothing 
to ask of you, but as a Christian pastor, I have 
somethinor to ask." 

The General fixed his eyes upon him and 
asked, " What is it. Brother S. ? " 

" General, you know the quarrel between you 
and Brother W. You will meet at the Lord's 
Table next Sabbath evening. You ought not 
to meet until that difficulty is settled. I wish 
you to take him by the hand and say with all 
your heajt that you will forgive, and forget, and 
bury the past, and that you wish him to do the 
same." 

The fire began to burn in General Houston's 
eyes. His brow knit. His teeth clinched. 
His whole frame shook. It was hard for the 
stubborn old man to forgive and forget. At 
last he slowly said, " Brother S., I will do it"; 
and the next day he kept his promise. 



PIONEERS OF CIVILIZATION 

Third Migration — Across the Rockies 
CHAPTER XVI 

JOHN AUGUSTUS SUTTER 
1 803-1 880 

" TS Captain Sutter here ? " 

" Yes, he is in the house." 

" I want to see him quick." 

Mr. James W. Marshall jumped from his 
horse, and with long and rapid strides walked 
into the house of Captain John A. Sutter. The 
place was Sacramento, California ; and the time, 
late in the afternoon of February 2S, 1848. 

" Good evening, Captain Sutter, I want to 
see you alone." 

Sutter took him into an inner room and closed 
and locked the door. " What do you want ? " 
said Sutter. "Any damage to my new saw-mill ?" 

"No," replied Marshall; "but look here." 
Then he emptied upon the table the contents of 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



a small bag and said, " Here are two ounces 
of pure gold, which I picked up this morning in 
the race-way of the mill. Gold ! Gold ! Look 
at it, Captain Sutter. Where this came from. 




CAPTAIN JOHN A. SUTTER 

there must be more of the same sort. Our for- 
tune is made ! " 

Sutter applied such tests as he could. He 
weighed it. He pounded it and found that it 
was malleable. Finally he tested it with sul- 
phuric acid, and it did not tarnish. 

"Yes," he said, "this is gold. Where did 
you find it ? and how did it happen ? " 



JOHN AUGUSTUS SUTTER 



189 



" Well," replied Marshall, " you know we are 
deepening the tail-race of the mill. We dig 
during the day and turn on the water at night. 
The water washes down stream all the earth we 
have dug up the previous day. Then we get 
out the rocks and stones that cannot be floated 
off and dig up more earth to be washed away 
the next ni^ht. Yester- 
day morning, in walking 
along the race, I found 
shining particles ; and 
on going again this 
morning, I found more 
of them. The place is 
full of gold. Let us keep 
still about it, but quietly 
go to digging for it." 

Marshall wanted Sut- 
ter to start rigrht back 
with him ; but as it was raining hard, the latter 
objected Marshall, however, rode back the 
forty miles that night ; and he and all the laborers 
at once began to dig for gold. The mill-race 
remained unfinished. 

When America was first discovered, the news 
spread over Europe that the new country was 
rich in gold. All the early explorers had sought 
for it, and some had ignorantly believed they 




■^A^'^ 



EXAMINING SAND WITH A GOLD 
PAN 



IQO AMERICAN PIONEERS 

had found it. The Spaniards had gathered the 
shining sands of Florida. The Virginia settlers 
had sent to England a ship-load of worthless 
yellow clay. Far and wide the country had 
been searched for the precious metal ; and though 
it had never been found in any quantity, still 
people did not entirely give up the belief that 
America was a land of gold, a true " El Dorado." 
Now its discovery could not be kept a secret. 
The news traveled like wild-fire, until the papers 
all over the United States were talking of gold. 
For a time it seemed that every one was going 
to California. Thousands upon thousands did 

go- 

At the time of Marshall's discovery there 
were scarcely two thousand Americans in Cali- 
fornia. In eight months there were six thou- 
sand ; by July of the next year, fifteen thousand; 
and before the following Christmas, more than 
fifty thousand people were digging gold in Cali- 
fornia. In five years the new state had a per- 
manent population of three hundred thousand, 
and the yield from the gold mines had amounted 
to two hundred and seventy millions of dollars. 
" El Dorado " had at last been found. 

Thousands of people gained a fortune in Cali- 
fornia. Thousands went home disappointed or 
remained to spend their days in poverty and 



JOHN AUGUSTUS SUTTER 



191 



discontent. How was it with Captain Sutter on 
whose land and by whose men the gold had been 
found ? 

John Augustus Sutter was born a little over 
one hundred years ago (1803) in Kendon, a 



V-!*'i? 






HYDRALTLIC MIMNG FOR GOLD AT THE I'RESENT DAY 

small village in the southwestern part of Baden, 
in Germany. His parents were Swiss, and they 
sent him to the military college in Berne, where 
he was graduated at the age of twenty years. 
When he was thirty he emigrated to America. 
At first he settled in St. Louis, but afterwards 
he pushed further west and engaged in the fur 
trade at Santa Fe. While there, through infor- 



192 AiMERICAN PIONEERS 

mation received from the Indians, and from the 
hunters and trappers with whom he traded, 
Sutter became interested in the region lying 
beyond the Rocky Mountains and bordering 
upon the Pacific Ocean. 

He crossed the mountains to the Oregon 
country and descended the Cohimbia River to 
Fort Vancouver. At that time the Hudson's 
Bay Company practically controlled everything 
in the region, and there were but few American 
settlers there. Many tribes of Indians roamed 
over the country ; and bear, otter, fox, wolf, 
deer, and other wild animals furnished valuable 
furs. 

From Oregon, Sutter took passage in a sailing 
vessel and went to the Sandwich Islands. There 
he bought a new vessel, loaded it with merchan- 
dise, and sailed away for the Russian port, Sitka, 
in Alaska. Then, having disposed of his cargo 
to good advantage, he set sail again. This time 
he explored the entire coast as far south as the 
Bay of San Francisco, then called, as it had 
been named by the Spaniards, the Bay of "Yerba 
Buena," "good herb." 

Where now stands the largest city on the 
Pacific coast, there were then, less than sixty 
years ago, but a few tumble-down adobe houses, 
scarcely enough to warrant the name of village. 



JOHN AUGUSTUS SUTTER 



193 



The entire country was wild and desolate. Here 
and there were a few Mexicans, but the principal 
inhabitants were wandering- Indians. 

At San Francisco, Sutter's vessel was wrecked ; 
so he determined to seek his fortune in the in- 




NATIVE CALIKORMANS LASSOING A WILD HEAR 

terior. With great difficulty he pushed his way 
up the valley of the Sacramento ; and on the 
spot where the city of Sacramento now stands, 
he founded the first white settlement in northern 
California. He received a laro-e orant of land 
from the Mexican Government and was ap- 
pointed governor of that northern frontier 
country. 
13 



194 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

At the close of the Mexican War all that 
region called New Mexico and Upper California 
was ceded to the United States. Captain Sutter 
was then the foremost man in Upper California. 
He owned broad tracts of land and had thousands 
of cattle, horses, and sheep. He had developed 
an extensive trade with the Indians, had built a 
flour-mill and sawmills, and established a tannery 
and other prosperous lines of business. 

As we have seen, it was in connection with the 
building of a new sawmill that gold was discov- 
ered. Captain Sutter was already a rich man, 
and it would seem that this discovery on his 
own land must have greatly increased his wealth. 
But the result was far otherwise. His men for- 
sook his mills and his ranch to diij for orold. All 
his varied interests were neglected and went to 
ruin. His lands were taken from him, and gold 
claims and house-lots were staked out on the 
premises that had formerly been his. 

The new settlers and gold diggers not only 
took his land, but stole his cattle, sheep, and 
horses ; helped themselves to his large crops of 
corn, wheat, and potatoes ; destroyed his fur 
trade with the Indians and his hide and leather 
trade with the East; and left everything a total 
wfeck. There was no redress except by the 
slow and uncertain processes of the law. Sutter 



JOHN AUGUSTUS SUTTER 195 

spent his entire fortune fighting the new claim- 
ants of his property and was finally beaten. 

It was a sad case. He had always been an 
upright and honorable man and a loyal Ameri- 
can. He was now poor, broken down in health, 
and utterly discouraged. Out of sheer sym- 
pathy, the legislature of California granted him 
a pension of two hundred and fifty dollars a 
month. Later his homestead was burned, and 
he was compelled to give up all his property. 
At the age of threescore and ten, he removed to 
Lititz, Pennsylvania, where he passed the few re- 
maining years of his life. 

But the mining of gold in California still con- 
tinues. Gold worth millions of dollars is taken 
from the mines each year. The entire amount 
since the discovery in Captain Sutter's race-way 
reaches well-nicrh the enormous sum of two 
thousand millions of dollars. 




The Pick Mattock of the Miner 



CHAPTER XVII 

AMOS LAWRENCE LOVEJOY 

i8o5(?)-i882 

T^EW countries have a history more romantic 
than that of the Oregon Territory. Few 
of the early settlers of that regic^n lived lives 
more varied or more interesting than that of 
General A. L. Lovejoy. He first arrived in 
Oregon early in September, 1842. He died at 
his home in Portland, early in September, 1882. 
During these forty years his life and his work 
were closely connected with the settlement, de- 
velopment, and prosperity of the region which is 
now divided into the three states of Oregon, 
Washington, and Idaho. 

General Lovejoy was a native of Massachu- 
setts, born in the town of Groton about a 
hundred years ago.. His father was Dr. Samuel 
Lovejoy, and his mother was Betsy Lawrence, a 
cousin and adopted sister of the Honorable Ab- 
l)Ott Lawrence who was at one time United 
States minister to Great Britain. Amos was 
prepared for college and in due time entered 



AMOS LAWRENCE LOVEJOY 



197 



Harvard. He did not finish his course there, 
but changed to Amherst where he was gradu- 
ated. He studied law with Judge May of Maine 
and was admitted to the bar. 

Lovejoy was a born pioneer. He was restive 
under the quiet, uneventful life of New Eng- 







ON THE COLUMKIA RIVER, OREGON: INDIANS SPEARING SALMON AS 
THEY COME OVER THE FALLS 

land andlonofed for greater freedom and a more 
active career in the West. On the very west- 
ern border of Missouri was a little hamlet called 
Sparta. Thither went Lovejoy and opened a 
law office. In the spring of 1842 that fron- 
tier region was greatly excited over the discus- 
sions in Congress and in the newspapers con- 



198 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

cerning the Oregon country. A party of emi- 
grants was just starting out under Doctor Elijah 
White, who had spent several years with the 
Methodist mission in Oregon and had recently 
received an appointment from our national 
government as Indian agent. The party num- 
bered more than a hundred, the first large party 
with women and children to cross the mountains 
for Oregon. Lovejoy joined the expedition 

It was about the middle of May, 1842, when 
they set out for the far West. Passing through 
a country inhabited solely by hostile Indians, it 
was necessary for them to be constantly on their 
guard. One of their own number describes their 
daily routine as follows : 

" They traveled all day, steadily onward, till 
four o'clock in the afternoon, when they halted. 
As large a circle was made as could be formed 
by the wagons, drawn up one behind another ; 
and then the mules, horses, etc., with ropes of 
perhaps fifty feet in length attached to them, 
were turned loose upon the prairie to feed till 
evening. Each person then built a fire opposite 
his own wagon ; and while this was being done, 
the females were preparing food for cooking. 
Two forked sticks were driven into the ground, 
a pole laid across, and kettle swung upon it. 
Those who had tables set them out ; while others 



AMOS LAWRENCE LOVEJOY I99 

laid the cloth upon the ground and seated them- 
selves around, after the fashion of olden times, 
partaking- of the food before them with appetites 
not at all wanting in keenness. 

" After the meal, they usually enjoyed a season 
of recreation, sauntering about at their leisure ; 
and it was really the most delightful part of the 
day. At sunset, the hofses were caught; and 
each by a rope was fastened to a stake, at suit- 
able distances, and left for the night. Sentinels 
were then stationed at different points, and in all 
directions were heard the blows of the axes and 
the hammers of the men, driving the stakes and 
setting up the tents. Most of the women and 
children slept in the comfortable, Pennsylvania 
wagons ; and the men, on blankets spread under 
the tents, with coats and saddles for pillows. 

" As day dawned, — according to a law, made 
as in other republics, by a majority of votes, — at 
a given signal, every one rose to prepare for 
departure. The boys went in all directions to 
collect the teams and herds, which often detained 
them for several hours, as the cattle would some- 
times wander off for miles. The first meal being 
over, the dishes nicely stowed away, and every- 
thing pronounced in readiness, he who had taken 
the lead the day before went to the rear, while 
the next in order took lis n^-^.ce. This rule was 



200 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



invariably observed, as it prevented any feeling 
that others were preferred to them." * 

The route of these pioneers lay up the Platte 
River and through the afterwards famous South 
Pass, where is Independence Rock. It was the 




" W l.si \\\l:|i III) ! 

h'fom the paintings; by Etnanuel Lei(tze in the Capitol at Washington. A/'OTe it is 
the ieg-eitii : " M'est'H'ard the course of eiufiire takes its ivay" from Bishop 
Berkeley''s poe»i^ "O/i the Prospect of Planting Art', and Learningin America,"" 
written in the first lialf of tite eighteenth century. Beloiv is a 7'iew of the 
Golden Gate, harbor of San Francisco, and in tlie borders are portraits of 
Daniel Boone and William Clark. 



custom for all emigrants passing this place to 
chisel their names upon the rock. Doctor White 
and others had finished theirs and left Lovejoy 
and one other " who were doing this with great 
care," when a large party of Sioux Indians came 

* Teti Years in Oregon, by Dr. E. Wliite. 



AMOS LAWRENCE LOVEJOY 20I 

Stealthily around from the opposite side of the 
rock. They rushed upon the two men, stripped 
them of their clothing-, and apparently were 
about to kill Lovejoy, when they stopped to hold 
a grave consultation. At length, they advanced 
with their prisoners toward the caravan of white 
men. One of the party of emigrants went for- 
ward to meet the Indians, making signs of peace. 
The Indians halted and agreed to free the pris- 
oners for a ransom of tobacco and a few trinkets. 

"While traveling across the plains with Doctor 
E. White, and listening to his glowing descrip- 
tion of the wonderful country beyond the Rocky 
Mountains, with its large rivers, magnificent 
forests, and beautiful fertile valleys, Mr. Lovejoy 
had become very much interested in the future 
of the country on the Pacific coast, and he was 
anxious to see it settled and held by the Ameri- 
cans." On arriving at Doctor Whitman's mission 
station in Oregon, he found the Doctor planning 
to go east in the interest of the mission and of 
the Oregon country. 

The two talked over the whole subject, and 
Whitman asked Lovejoy if he thought it possible 
to cross the mountains in the winter. Lovejoy 
told him he thought that with a good guide it 
might be done. The Doctor asked him if he 
would accompany him. Lovejoy had just com- 



202 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

pleted the long journey with all its dangers and 
difficulties, had been once captured by the In- 
dians, and now was near the end of his travels ; 
yet so impressed was he with the country and 
the importance of its being permanently a part 
of the United States that he at once promised to 
go with Dr. Whitman. 

They started on their perilous journey at the 
begrinnina; of October. Their route was to Fort 
Hall in southeastern Idaho, thence southerly by 
way of Santa Fe in New Mexico, then northeast 
to Bent's Fort on the upper waters of the Ar- 
kansas River. Here Lovejoy, thoroughly ex- 
hausted, remained, while Whitman continued 
his journey east. The following spring. Whit- 
man aided a large party of nearly a thousand 
persons across the plains and through the moun- 
tains to distant Oregon. 

Lovejoy probably busied himself during the 
winter months in giving information concerning 
Oregon to the pioneers bordering upon the Ar- 
kansas River. In the spring he went north 
and, as he afterwards wrote, "joined the Doctor 
[Whitman] in July near Fort Laramie, on his 
way to Oregon with a train of emigrants." He 
arrived at Oregon City in November, 1843, 
opened a law office and commenced the practice 
of law. From the first he had a large business, 



AMOS LAWRENCE LOVEJOY 



203 



and the next year he became a member of the 
Oregon legislature, and two years later he was 
the speaker of the territorial House of Repre- 
sentatives. 

In 1845, Lovejoy and Mr. F. W. Pettygrove 
laid out the city of Portland, they two being the 




IN THE FAMOUS ASSAY OFFICE, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON: BALANCES 
THAT HAVE WEIGHED OVER EIGHTEEN MILLION DOLLARS' WORTH 
OF GOLD 



owners of a large tract of land there. It is re- 
lated that, when they were discussing what name 
to give to the city, Lovejoy wished to name it 
Boston ; but Pettygrove who came from 
Maine, insisted on calling it Portland. As 
they could not agree, they proposed to let chance 



204 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

decide it. They tossed up a cent ; Pettygrove 
won ; and the place was called Portland. 

General Lovejoy's three trips across the 
Rocky Mountains were not travel enough for 
him. In 1848, he made the journey to Califor- 
nia, and was for some time at work in the gold 
mines of the Sacramento valley. However, he 
soon returned to his family in Oregon, and after 
the regular territorial government went into 
effect, he held many important offices, both from 
the Territory and from the United States. He 
acquired considerable property, and was largely 
interested in steamboats and railways. 

After 1867 he resided in Portland, where he 
took an active part in establishing schools, espe- 
cially the High School. The historian of the 
Northwest tells us that " He was a supporter of 
religious institutions, and favored all efforts to 
promote morality. He was a firm believer in 
Oregon and an admirer of her beautiful land- 
scape scenery and her mountain grandeur. Few 
if any of the pioneers have done more to entitle 
them to celebrity than General Amos L. Love- 
joy. His name and acts deserve to be indelibly 
stamped upon the pages of Oregon history." 



CHAPTER XVIII 

PETER H. BURNETT 
1 807- 1 895 

^ I ''HE Atlantic slope of our country was settled 
by pioneers from Europe more than two 
hundred and fifty years ago. The first pioneers 
of the Mississippi valley crossed the Alleghany 
Mountains about one hundred and fifty years 
ago. The Pacific coast settlements have been 
made mostly within the last fifty years. What 
rapid strides the Oregon country and the broad 
California region have made within these fifty 
years ! 

A little more than sixty years ago, the Ameri- 
cans began, in a small way, in Oregon. Very 
few of our people had gone thither before 1843. 
During that summer nearly a thousand persons, 
— men, women, and children, — made their way 
slowly across the great plains, over the Rocky 
Mountains, and down the Columbia River to find 
for themselves homes in the valley of that river 
and along the shore of the picturesque Willa- 
mette. Their arrival just at this time made it 



206 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

possible for the United States to hold the Ore- 
gon country. 

Prominent in this company of emigrants was 
Peter H. Burnett, who afterwards became the 
first governor of California. He was a native 
of Nashville, Tennessee. When he was ten 
years old he went with his father's family to Mis- 
souri. His life in this new territory was year 
after year, one continued hardship. Everything 
that the farmers could raise for sale brought but 
a very low price, while everything that they had 
to buy was very high. Their Indian corn brought 
but ten cents a bushel ; wheat, but fifty cents ; 
and pork sold for a cent and a quarter a pound. 

Young Burnett was at first a farmer's boy ; 
then he became a clerk in a country hotel ; after- 
wards, a merchant ; and finally he studied law. 
As a lawyer he had considerable success, but in 
the winter of 1842-43 he decided to emigrate to 
the Oregon region. He made speeches here and 
there, organized a wagon company, and in the 
spring following, he and his family joined the 
emigrant train. He had four yoke of oxen, two 
mules, two ox-wagons, and one horse-wagon. 

The caravan which he joined was the famous 
body of emigrants for which Doctor Marcus 
Whitman did so much. They started from the 
frontier in May and reached Waiilatpu (wi"-e- 



PETER H. BURNETT 



207 



lat'po), Doctor Whitman's home in the Oregon 
country, in October. This journey of so large 
a party across the plains and through the Rocky 
Mountains was full of incident, accident, and 
suffering. At one time five men were hunting 
buffalo. They came upon a herd of full-grown 
ones and wounded the largest and strongest of 




DR. whitman's home AT WAIILATPU, WASHINGTON 



them all. When wounded, a buffalo will turn 
upon his pursuers and fight. " He turned sud- 
denly around," writes Burnett in his narrative, 
" and faced me with his shaggy head, black horns, 
and gleaming eyes. My horse stopped instantly, 
and I rode round the old bull to get a shot at his 
side, but he kept his head towards me. I dis- 
rnounted and tried to get a shot on foot. I 



208 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

would go a few steps from my horse when the 
buffalo would bound towards me. Then I would 
dodge behind my pony. At last I got a fair 
chance and shot him through the lungs." 

Those early pioneers in Oregon suffered many 
hardships. Burnett relates that " For the first 
two years after our arrival in Oregon we were 
frequently without any meat for weeks at a time, 
sometimes without bread, and occasionally with- 
out bread and meat at the same time. On these 
occasions, if we had milk, butter, and potatoes, 
we were well content." * 

At another time, as he tells us, it was exceed- 
ingly difficult to get clothing. " In the streets 
of Oregon City," he says, " I met a young man 
with a new and substantial leather hunting-shirt, 
brought from the Rocky Mountains, where he 
had purchased it from the Indians. I said to him, 
* What will you take for your leather hunting- 
shirt ? ' He replied, ' Seven bushels of wheat.' 
I said at once, ' I will take it.' I measured him 
out the grain and took the shirt. I knew it would 
last me for several years. I found it a most 
excellent article of dress, in clear weather, for 
rough work." 

At another time Burnett had but one working 
shirt, and that was nearly worn out. " Where 

* Burnett's Recollections of an Old Pioneer, 



PETER H. BURNETT 209 

or how to procure another," he writes, " I could 
not tell." Just then he was called upon, in his 
capacity of justice of the peace, to marry a young 
couple ; and he received as a marriage fee an 
order on a store for five dollars. " Then," he 
says, " I purchased some blue twilled cotton out 
of which my wife made me a shirt. The material 




A CARAVAN ON ITS WAY TO CALIFORNIA 

wore well, but, having been colored with log- 
wood, it left the skin blue." 

When the news of the discovery of gold in 
California reached Oregon, it created the most 
intense excitement. Nothing else was talked 
about. More than half the men speedily started 
south. In September, Mr. Burnett organized a 
wagon company of one hundred and fifty men 
and fifty wagons, and in eight days they were 
off for California. 
14 



2IO AMERICAN PIONEERS 

Their way lay over lava beds, rocky mountains, 
steep precipices, and barren plains, where there 
were no roads. They carried an ample supply 
of provisions, and in due time they passed the 
summit of the mountains. Once they overtook 
a party of half-starved pioneers, hungry, poor, 
and utterly lost. At another time, so Burnett 
says, " Our pilot, Thomas McKay, came across 
an old woman on foot, driving before her a 
packed ox down a steep hill. When he ap- 
proached near her, he made a noise that caused 
her to stop and look back. ' Who are you and 
where did you come from ?' she asked in a loud 
voice. He informed her that he was one of a 
party of a hundred and fifty men, who were on 
their way from Oregon, with wagons and ox- 
teams, to the California gold mines. ' Have you 
got any flour?' 'Yes, madam, plenty.' 'You 
are like an angel from Heaven.' And she raised 
a loud and thrillinij shout that ranij throucjh the 
primeval forest." 

Much of the way, they had to open a new road 
for tlieir wagons. They would detail sixty or 
eighty men for this work and leave the others to 
drive the teams. To quote Burnett again, "We 
plied our axes with skill, vigor, and success, and 
opened the route about as fast as the teams could 
follow." 



PETER H. BURNETT 211 

They met with many narrow escapes, but had 
no serious accidents. In this they were more 
fortunate than the famous Donner party which 
had gone over the mountains two years before 
them. Of the sufferings of that party is told the 
following : 

" At one time while crossing the Sierras, a ter- 
rible storm came up, and snow fell during the 
night to the depth of about six feet. The ani- 
mals fled before the driving storm and all per- 
ished. The party made their way slowly forward 
on snow-shoes, the snow being from ten to fif- 
teen feet deep. They could travel only from 
five to eight miles a day. Their food was rapidly 
diminishing. When they reached the western 
side of the summit, they encamped as usual on 
the top of the snow. They cut logs of green 
wood about six feet long and with them con- 
structed a platform on the snow and upon this 
made their fire of dry wood. At one time the 
platform was composed of small logs, as they 
were too weak from starvation to cut and handle 
large ones. During the following evening there 
came up a driving, blinding snow-storm which 
lasted all that night and the next day and night. 
New snow fell to the depth of several feet. They 
maintained for a time a good fire, to keep them- 
selves from freezinor ; but the small foundation 



212 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



logs were soon burnt nearly through so that the 
heat of the fire melted the snow beneath, letting 
them down gradually toward the ground, while 
the snow above w^as falling thick and fast. By 
midnight they were in a circular well in the snow 
about eight feet deep with ice-cold water begin- 
nino- to rise in the bottom. After the founda- 







f 












*- '-F' 



W- 



lilK DU.N.NKR TARTV CROSSING THE SIEKKA MOUN'IAI.NS I.N 1^4!' 

tion was gone they kept alive the fire by setting 
the wood on end and kindling the fire on top." 
Several of their number perished. Their provi- 
sions were so reduced that they had only half a 
biscuit each. Only two men and five women 
reached the eastern side of the Sacramento val- 
ley where they found relief from their sufferings 
from the kind-hearted settlers already there. 



PETER H, BURNETT 



213 



As Bufnett's company approached the gold re- 
gions, the pace of the oxen which drew the heavy 
wagons was too slow for many of the men. A 
number now went ahead on their horses, expect- 
ing to reach the mines before the wagons. As 
it happened they got lost in the mountains, and 




A Sl.l I I.IMENT AT THE FOOT OK THE K(HK\ ,M(>1!N1.\1NS 

the slow-going oxen were the first to reach their 
destination. 

Burnett and two others bought a mining claim 
for which they promised to pay three hundred 
dollars in gold dust. They "rose at daylight, ate 
breakfast by sunrise, worked until noon, then 
took dinner, went to work again about half-past 
twelve, quit work at sunset, and slept under a 
canvas tent on the hard ground." They were 



214 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

fortunate in their claim, and soon every man was 
making twenty dollars a day. 

Mr. Burnett tells us that it was very easy 
to discover when the miners quit work in 
the evening what success they had had during 
the day. "When I met a miner," he writes, 
"with a silent tongue and downcast look, I knew 
he had not made more than eight or ten dollars ; 
when I met one with a contented but not excited 
look, I knew he had made from sixteen to twenty 
dollars ; but when I met one with a glowing 
countenance, and quick, high, vigorous step, so 
that the rocks were not much if at all in his way, 
I knew he had made from twenty to fifty dollars. 
His tongue was so flexible and glib he would not 
permit me to pass in silence, but must stop me 
and tell me of his success." 

When Mr. Burnett had made a favorable start, 
he rose rapidly. Being a lawyer, he naturally 
entered the political field. He took an active 
part in the affairs of the territory of California, 
and when it was admitted as a state of the Union 
he became candidate for governor. A story of 
his campaign illustrates the rapid growth of Cal- 
ifornia. Before the election Mr. Burnett went 
to San Francisco. " When I left the city six 
weeks before," he "said, " I knew a large portion 
of the people of the place ; but upon my return, 



PETER H. BURNETT 21$ 

I did not know one in ten, such had been the 
rapid increase in the population. I was surprised 
to find myself so much of a stranger, and I said 
to myself ' This is rather a poor prospect for 
governor.' " 

However, he was elected the first governor of 
California and remained in office a little over two 
years. Then he resigned, as it was necessary 
for him to give all his time to his private affairs. 
He was successful in his law practice and gained 
considerable property. He interested himself in 
many lines of work, was the author of several 
books and pamphlets and many articles for the 
newspapers. Among his writings his book en- 
titled "The Recollections of an Old Pioneer" is 
justly deserving of a high place in the annals of 
our nation. 




Part II 

PIONEERS OF REFORM 
Government 



CHAPTER XIX 

THOMAS JEFFERSON 
1743-1826 

T r was Thomas Jefferson, 
of Virginia, who wrote 
the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. 

" When, in the course of 
human events, it becomes 
necessary for one people to 
dissolve the political bands 
which have connected them 
with another, and to assume 
among the powers of the earth the separate and 
equal station to which the laws of nature and 
of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect 
to the opinions of mankind requires that they 




THOMAS JEFFERSON 



2l8 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

should declare the causes which impel them to 
the separation. 

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: 
that all men are created equal ; that they are 
endowed by their Creator with certain inalien- 
able rights ; that among these are life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness." 

These words, every school boy should com- 
mit to memory. Thousands of American youths 
have learned the entire Declaration. Let us 
learn, at least, something of the life and charac- 
ter of its author, one of the country's foremost 
pioneers of governmental reform. 

Thomas Jefferson's ancestor, John Jefferson, 
a Welshman, was a member of the first Virginia 
legislature, even before the Pilgrims landed 
from the Mayflower at Plymouth. The father 
of Thomas Jefferson, Peter Jefferson, was a well- 
to-do farmer in Virginia. His plantation in- 
cluded nearly two thousand acres, and over thirty 
slaves were employed on it. Thomas Jefferson 
was born in the year i 743. When he was four- 
teen years old, his father died. Jefferson grew 
up a tall, raw-boned, freckled youth, with sandy 
hair, large feet and hands, thick wrists, and 
prominent cheek bones. But he stood erect, 
was agile and strong, and as his comrades de- 
scribed him, fresh, heaithy-looking, and hand- 



THOMAS JEFFERSON 



219 



some. Though he was quick to learn, he studied 
hard and industriously, sometimes fifteen hours 
a day ; for at seventeen he entered William and 
Mary College at Williamsburg. 

Williamsburg was the capital of the colony. 
It stood upon the summit or divide, midway 
between the James and the York rivers. The 




THE COLLEGE OF \VILLL\M AND NL\KY, AS 11 Al'l'KAKS lO-UAY 

main street was called " The Duke of Glouces- 
ter Street." It was about a mile in length, and 
on it stood most of the principal houses, although 
" The Governor's Palace," as his house was called, 
was on a side street further north. Here stood 
the famous Bruton Parish Church, built of bricks 
imported from England. It still stands and is 
to-day one of the leading churches of the place. 



220 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



It has three historical communion services. One 
was used by the old Jamestown church, one was 
given to it in the time of Queen Anne, and the 
other in the reign of George III. The baptismal 
font is the very one used in the Jamestown 
church, at the baptism of Pocahontas. 

Here, at one end of the Duke of Gloucester 

I ;/rt>;^; ^3 ■', .PALA CEA?_» S ■^i 










BRUTON PARISH 
CHURCH aI I 

cemfteryI I 



RALEIGH TAVERN 



□ 



DuUu of Gloucester Street 



POWDER HORN 



o 




WILLIAMSBURG IN COLONIAL DAYS 



Street, at the junction of the two roads which 
lead to the James River and to Yorktown, stood 
the house of Burgesses, where Patrick Henry 
delivered his speech against the Stamp Act. 
Here stood the Raleigh Tavern, with its " Apollo 
Hall," where the patriots of the Revolution were 
accustomed to meet and discuss their plans. 
Here, too, stood the strong brick " Powder Horn," 
from which Governor Dunmore took the powder 



THOMAS JEFFERSON 221 

to send aboard a British vessel.* And here at 
the other end of The Duke of Gloucester Street, 
at the junction of the two roads from Richmond 
and Jamestown, stood, where still they stand, the 
buildings for the College of William and Mary. 

It was while Jefferson was at William and 
Mary College that Patrick Henry made his 
famous speech. The young student was deeply 
stirred by the eloquence of the orator. When 
he was an old man, after he had served as Presi- 
dent of the United States, and had retired to 
private life in his beautiful home at Monticello, 
Jefferson used to. delight in telling the story of 
the eventful day when Patrick Henry thrilled the 
members of the House. " Caesar had his Brutus, 
Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the 
Third." . . . "Treason! treason!" shouted the 
loyalists. It was a breathless moment. Paus- 
ing an instant, and looking around him with the 
utmost coolness, he added in calm and quiet 

* Tliis happened two days after the battle of Lexington, Mass. 
In the middle of the night a company of marines landed from the 
schooner Magdalen, which was anchored in the river near Wil- 
liamsburg. Silently they loaded Governor Dunmore's wagon with 
fifteen half-barrels of gunpowder, and before mornin-g it was 
stored away on board the vessel. The people of Virginia were 
very indignant when they learned of the seizure of the gunpow- 
der. A company was formed which marched to Williamsburg 
and compelled the governor to pay for the powder which he had 
turned over to the British. 



222 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

tones, — "may profit by their example. If this 
be treason, make the most of it." 

Williamsburg was famous not only for law 
and scholarship, but for culture and refinement. 
Here Jefferson made the acquaintance of Gov- 
ernor Francis Fauquier. The Governor was ex- 
ceedingly fond of music, and once a week he had 




MONTICEI.LO, JKI'I'F.USON's IIOMK 

a party at his fine, large house. His guests were 
invited to bring their instruments. Jefferson, 
who was a great favorite with the Governor, 
was a skillful player on the violin and a popular 
o;-uest at these ijatherintj^s. 

When he was twenty-four years old, he was 
admitted to the bar. At that time he had al- 
ready taken upon himself the management of his 



THOMAS JKFl'KRSON 223 

father's estate, and had been elected justice of 
the peace. A few years later he built his new 
house on the summit of a high hill, about three 
miles from Charlottesville. This place he called 
" Monticello," which means a small mountain. 
I'^or more than fifty years antl until his death, 
this was his home and the home of a ha|)py 
family. 

Monticello is a beautiful spot. The house 
which Jefferson built more than a hundred and 
thirty years ago still stands just as he left it at 
his death, though three-quarters of a century have 
passed. Some of the furniture purchased and 
carried there during his lifetime is there to-day. 
The large, low, mostly one-story house stands in 
the middle of a wide lawn of many acres, which 
is entirely surrounded by a thick forest of native 
trees. The land slopes down from the mansion 
on three sides ; on the south side is a large, nearly 
level lawn, which was made with great labor, by 
Jefferson's orders. 

Jefferson built subways leading from the cellar 
underground to the surface a long distance down 
the hill. During the War of the Revolution, 
when Colonel Tarleton and his legion swept 
through the Carolinas and northward into Vir- 
ginia, he made an atrc;mpt to capture Jefferson, 
then Governor of Virginia. The Governor was 



224 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

forewarned, just in time. As Tarleton's advance 
cavalry galloped up to the north front of Monti- 
cello, the Governor passed through his subway 
to the road on the east front, mounted his horse, 
and without being seen by Tarleton's men rode 
through the woods to the house of Edward Car- 
ter, and thus escaped capture. 

Soon after Jefferson's marriage, the dispute 
with England about her right to tax the Ameri- 
can Colonies without their consent became so 
bitter that it was evident that war must soon 
follow. In March, 1775, Patrick Henry made 
his speech, so familiar to all, in St. John's Church 
in Richmond, the burden of which was " We 
must fight" ; but it was more than a year after 
that before the Congress was ready to issue its 
declaration of independence. 

On the seventh of June, 1776, Richard Henry 
Lee, the oldest member of the Virginia delegates, 
moved that "Congress should declare that these 
United States are, and of right ought to be, free 
and independent states . . . and that a confeder- 
ation be formed to bind the colonies together." 
This motion was thoroughly debated in the Con- 
gress and a committee of five was appointed to 
draft the resolution, or Declaration of Independ- 
ence. Jefferson was chairman of this commit- 
tee, and he himself alone wrote the first draft. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON 225 

It was slightly changed, and the declaration that 
the colonies were independent of British rule was 
adopted on the second of July. 




From the painting by Chapp 



JEFFERSON READING TO THE COMMITTEE THE FIRST DRAFT 
OF THE DECLARATION 

Then followed a sharp and critical discussion 
of every sentence of the entire document as sub- 
mitted by Jefferson's committee. With some 
changes the "Declaration" was finally adopted, 

15 



226 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

July 4th, 1776. The turning point was on the 
second of July. John Adams, who was the prin- 
cipal defender of the motion throughout the 
debate, thought that the second would be the 
day celebrated ; but, as the entire "Declaration " 
was passed on the fourth, that day has been 
observed ever since as the anniversary day. 

In writing to his wife, John Adams said, "The 
second of July, i 776, will be the most memorable 
epoch in the history of America. I am apt to 
believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding 
generations as the great Anniversary Festival. 
It ought to be commemorated as the day of 
deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God 
Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp 
and parade, with shows, games, sports, bells, bon- 
fires, and illuminations, from one end of the con- 
tinent to the other." 

JefTerson was noted for many public acts be- 
sides writing the Declaration of Independence, 
For nearly ten years after its passage he devoted 
himself to changing the old Colonial laws of his 
state so that they would conform to the beliefs 
and aims of the new Republic. Hitherto Vir- 
ginia had maintained a State Church which was 
supported by a tax levied upon tax-payers. All 
people were expected to attend the Established 
Church, and preachers of other denominations 




THOMAS JEFFERSON 227 

who attempted to hold services were fined and 
imprisoned. In 1776, Jefferson succeeded in 
having a bill passed which allowed men to wor- 
ship as they thought best, whether in the State 
Church or in dissenting churches. Nine years 
later, a law was enacted which gave complete 
religious freedom throughout the State. Jeffer- 
son regarded this bill as one of the most impor- 
tant triumphs of his 
life and mentioned 
it in his epitaph for 

, , THE AUTOGRArU Ol" JKFFERSON 

the monument that 

should mark his grave. James Madison, also, 
threw the whole force of his power as an orator 
and statesman in aiding Jefferson in the passage 
of this bill. 

JefTerson was instrumental also in abolishing 
the law of entail and primogeniture. This old 
English law gave to the eldest son all the lands 
belonerine to the father at the time of his death ; 
and these lands could not be sold, but must pass 
from father to son. It belonged to a system of 
aristocracy, and Jefferson considered that it had 
no place in the laws of a republic. By the new 
statute, Virginians could dispose of their lands as 
they thought fit. 

JefYerson served his state as a member of the 
House of Burgesses, was delegate to the Conti- 



228 



AiMERiCAiN PIONEERS 



nental Congress, Governor of Virginia, Minister 
to France, Secretary of State in President 
Washington's cabinet, Vice-President with John 
Adams, and later, for two terms President of the 
United States. In 1809 he retired from the 
Presidency and was succeeded by James Madison, 
his lifelonor friend. 

For seventeen years after his withdrawal from 




TIIK UNIVERSITY OK VIRGINIA AT THE TIME OF JEFFERSON's DEATH 

political life, Jefferson devoted himself to the 
improvement of his five thousand acres of Vir- 
ginia land, and to the founding of the University 
of Virginia, at Charlottesville. The plan and 
the course of study were almost entirely the 
product of Jefferson's active brain. He spent a 
great deal of time for many years in superin- 
tending the laying out of the grounds and the 
erection of the buildings of this important insti- 
tution. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON 229 

Jefferson lived to be more than fourscore 
years of age. The time of his death was singu- 
lar, in that it occurred on the fiftieth anniversary 
of the Declaration of Independence and on the 
same day that John Adams, his predecessor in 
the Presidency died. Jefferson desired to live to 
see the fourth of July, and his wish was granted. 
A little while after midnight he enquired, " Is it 
the Fourth ? " and being told that it was, he 
seemed to be content. He was buried near the 
summit of Monticello. A plain granite shaft, 
eight feet high, marks his last resting place. 
On it is chiseled the following, which was found 
among his papers, in his own hand-writing : 

Here was buried 
THOMAS JEFFERSON 

Author of the Declaration of Iiulependence, 

Of the Statute of Viroinia for Religious Freedom, 

And Father of the University of Virginia. 



CHAPTER XX 



JAMES MADISON 
1751-1836 




J 



JAMES MADISON 



AMES MADISON was 
the " Father of the Con- 
stitution " and a fit successor 
in the Presidency to the au- 
thor of the Declaration of In- 
dependence. Both men were 
pioneers of governmental re- 
form. Both were Virginians, 
Jefferson the elder by eight 
years. Each became President 
of the United States — Jefferson the third, and 
Madison the fourth. Each served two terms. 
Each lived to be more than fourscore years old. 
Each had a beautiful Virginia home — Jefferson's 
at Monticello, in the interior of the State, and 
Madison's at Mpntpellier, forty or fifty miles 
farther east. 

Madison himself says of his ancestors that they 
"were not among the most wealthy of the coun- 
try, but in independent and comfortable circum- 



JAMES MADISON 23I 

Stances." His first ancestor in America was 
John, who obtained a tract of land on Chesapeake 
Bay, north of the York River. James was the 
eldest of seven children. His early teacher was a 
Scotchman. Later he finished his studies pre- 
paratory for college under the instruction of the 
clergyman of the parish. When he was eighteen 
years old, he was sent to Princeton for his college 
training. He was graduated in 1772, studied 
law, and was admitted to the bar. 

Troublous times were close at hand, and James 
Madison was a sturdy patriot. He ardently 
adopted the cause of the Colonies in their strug- 
gles with the British Parliament and joined hands 
with Washington, Henry, and Jefferson. In 
1776 he was a delegate to the convention that 
planned the Virginia State Constitution. Then 
he was a member of the Continental Congress. 
Afterwards, in 1787, came the great Federal 
Convention that framed the United States Con- 
stitution, which has now been the supreme law 
of our country for more than a century. 

Madison and Washington were among the 
delegates from Virginia. Washington was chosen 
president of the Convention. Before the Con- 
vention met, Madison had prepared a proposed 
outline of the Constitution and had submitted it 
to the other members from Virginia. This was 



232 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



known as the " Virginia plan." It proposed an 
entirely new national government with three dis- 
tinct brandies. The legislative department was 




INDEPENDENCE IIAI.I,, I'll II.ADI.l.l'llI A, WHERE THE DECLARATION OK 
INDETKNUHNCK AND Till': CUNSTnUTlUN WERE SIGNED 



to make the laws ; the executive, to enforce the 
laws ; and the judicial, to interpret them. This 
plan was very similar to that which several of 
the states had adopted for their state govern- 



JAMES MADISON 233 

ment. If it were accepted, it would make two 
complete systems of law, one for the state and 
the other for the nation, moving one within the 
other. One writer says of it, " It was one of the 
longest reaches of constructive statesmanship 
ever known in the world, and the credit of it is 
due to Madison more than to any other one man." 

The Constitution was adopted by the Conven- 
tion. Whatever faults it may have had, it has 
carried the country forward with a rapid pace 
for more than one hundred years of great pros- 
perity, freedom, and happiness. Gladstone, the 
great English statesman, said of it, "It is the 
most wonderful work ever struck off at a given 
time by the brain and purpose of man." 

On the chair in which Washington sat as 
President of the Convention was carved a sun 
upon the horizon with its diverging rays shoot- 
ing upward. After the Constitution had been 
adopted, and while the members were gathered 
about the raised platform, waiting their turn to 
sign their names, Benjamin F'ranklin, who was 
standing near Mr. Madison, rubbing the glasses 
of his spectacles, said to him, " I believe paint- 
ers have found it difficult to tell whether a paint- 
ing of the sun upon the horizon is intended to 
represent a rising or a setting sun. I have often, 
during our debates here, looked upon that sun 



234 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



carved on the back of the President's chair, and 
wondered whether it represented a setting or a 
rising sun. But now at length I have the hap- 
piness to know that the sun of America is rising 
and not setting." 

The Constitution was agreed to by the Con- 
gress, but it could not become the law of the 

country until it 
had been accepted 
by the several 
states. Now came 
the severest bat- 
tle of all. One 
state after another 
adopted it. Thr-ee 
ratified it that 
same year — Dela- 

TON AS PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL Ware, PennSyl- 

CONVENTION ^^^'^^^ ^^^ ^ ^^ 

Jersey ; and before the first of the next June 
five more — Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, 
Maryland, and South Carolina — also had adopted 
it. One of its provisions was that it should go 
into effect for the states approving it as soon as 
nine had ratified it. Eight had already accepted 
it, and only one more was needed to make the 
Constitution the law of these nine United States 
of America. 




CHAIR AND TABLE USED BY WASHING- 



JAMES MADISON 235 

Just at this time Virginia called a convention 
to ratify or reject the Constitution. Its enemies 
made every effort to prevent its adoption. It 
was knov/n that North Carolina and Rhode 
Island were opposed. It was hoped that New 
York and New Hampshire would vote against 
it, especially if Virginia refused to give it her 
support. Hence every effort was made to elect 
delegates to the Virginia Convention who were 
opposed to its adoption. Naturally Madison 
wished to be in that convention. He had been 
foremost in making the Constitution, and now it 
was on trial. Should it be accepted by his own 
state, its success was assured. Should Virginia 
refuse its support, it would probably fail. 

A little while before the time for electingr dele- 
gates to this Virginia Convention, a new difficulty 
appeared that made it doubtful if Madison could 
be elected. There was in the lower end of the 
county an eccentric preacher, named John Le- 
land, who was opposed to the Constitution. He 
was a rough, uneducated man with a strong and 
vigorous mind and an iron will. Durine the 
war he had been a soldier under Washington, 
and later he had been imprisoned for preaching 
without a license. He had pffeat influence with 
the people ; and " It was no vain boast," says a 
recent writer, " to siy that such a man as John 



236 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



Leland would not only carry the members of his 
church and his whole neighborhood, but also all 
the middle-class people of Orange County, even 
in sight of Montpellier." 

Mr. Madison saw his dancjcr and determined 
to have an interview with him. So, one morn- 
ing, he mounted his horse and rode toward the 
lower end of the county to find Leland. About 

noon he met 
him, riding up 
the turnpike. 
Still sittincf on 
their horses 
they discussed 
until they were 
tired the only 
(luestion then 
talked about in 
Virginia. They 
dismounted, tied their horses to the swineine 
limbs of a giant oak, and sat down to argue the 
question further. Leland was opposed to the 
Constitution because he thought that it would 
form a powerful government that would be con- 
trolled by the wealthy people, and would soon 
take away the liberties of the common people. 
He, himself, had fought and bled to be freed 
from such a government. By such a government 




MADISON S IIOMK y\T MONTl'KI.I.IER 



JAMES MADISON 21"] 

he had been forbidden to preach as he thought 
was right and had been cast into a dungeon. 

Madison reminded him that he himself had 
contended in the State legislature for full reli- 
gious liberty ; that his father had led the Orange 
County militia in the Revolution ; and that his 
brother William, with him, had poured hot shot 
into the lines of Cornwallis at Yorktown. He 
presented his arguments with great skill, and 
they talked until the ^ 

sun was lost behind /g^,,.,^ ^^^..^^^"^^ 
the western hills. 

^_,, Til- ^"^ AUTOGRAI'It OF MADISON 

1 hen Leland jumped 

up from his seat, extended his hand, and said, 

" Mr. Madison, I will vote for you." 

"Then," replied Madison, "you will elect me." 
The day of election came. Leland and his 
followers went to the polls and voted to a man 
for Madison. He was elected, and his eloquence 
and his masterly arguments turned the conven- 
tion in favor of the Constitution, in spite of the 
brilliant oratory of Patrick Henry. These two 
men were the most active debaters upon the 
floor of the convention and made the longest 
speeches. In favor of the Constitution, Madison 
spoke more than fifty times, and against it Henry 
spoke more than thirty times. 

On the 26th of June the vote was taken and 



238 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



Virginia adopted the Constitution. Five days 
before, New Hampshire had passed the same 
vote. A month later New York followed, and 
measures were taken to start the new government 
under the Constitution. It was more than a year 
later, and not until after the new nation had 
begun its course, that the " Old North State " 

came into line. Finally, lit- 
tle Rhode Island adopted 
it, and the union of the 
thirteen colonies was ac- 
complished. 

The country recognized 
the ability and the patriot- 
ism of James Madison and 
rewarded him for his years 
of faithful work for her 
interests. He was a lead- 
ing member of Congress for eight years during 
the first four Congresses, eight years Secretary 
of State under Jefferson, and eight years Presi- 
dent of the United States. For nearly twenty 
years after retiring from the Presidency he lived 
a quiet but useful life at his beautiful home 
at Montpellier, greatly beloved by the entire 
people. 




THE GREAT SEAL OF THE 
UNMEI) STATES. ADOPTED 
IN 1782 



CHAPTER XXI 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
1809-1865 

A BRAHAM LINCOLN'S grandfather, an- 
other Abraham Lincoln, went to Kentucky 
in the early pioneer days because his friend, 
Daniel Boone, had gone there. He had consider- 
able property for those times, and he bought sev- 
eral large tracts of land. One day while at work 
in the clearing with his three boys, he was killed 
by an Indian. The eldest boy, Mordecai, ran to 
the house. The second boy hurried to the fort 
for help, while the youngest, a little fellow only 
ten years old, was left in the field. The Indian 
was just stooping to pick him up, when a rifle 
shot came whizzing through the air. Mordecai 
was a true marksman. The bullet hit the Indian 
in the breast, and the little brother was saved. 

This ten year old boy — his name was Thomas 
---now had to fight his own way in the world. He 
did whatever odd jobs he could for the settlers, 
and finally learned the carpenter's trade. He 
became known as a good workman, to be sure, 



240 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



but one who had very little push or ambition. 
Still in one way or another, he got together 
money enough to buy a farm. Of course he did 
not pay very much for it, for land was cheap ; but 
we must remember that then it was harder to find 

chances to earn one 
dollar in money 
than it is to make 
ten dollars now. 

He built a little 
log cabin of one 
room, fourteen feet 
square. It had a 
chimney, a door, 
and a window. Its 
only furniture was 
what he had made 
himself. The cabin 
was like hundreds 
of others in Ken- 
tucky. It was no 
better, no worse. 
To this cheerless cabin he brought his young 
wife ; and here his three children were born, two 
boys and a girl. One boy died when a baby. 
The other was Abrnhnm, the hero of our story. 

Of Lincoln's early life we know very little. He 
almost never spoke of it himself, and only a few 




AliRAHAM LINCOLN 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 24I 

stories have come down to us. One of them is 
of his narrow escape from drowning. He and a 
friend went across a creek to hunt partridges. 
A narrow log bridged the stream, which was 
swollen by the rain. Abraham fell in and could 
not swim ; neither could his friend, but the latter 
got a long pole antl finally succeeded in pulling 
the half-drowned boy to shore. There he rolled 
him and pounded him until he was himself again. 

"Then a new difficulty confronted us," said 
this friend when telling the story afterwards. 
" If our mothers discovered our wet clothes, they 
would whip us. This we dreaded from experi- 
ence and determined to avoid. It was June, the 
sun was very warm, and we soon dried our cloth- 
ing by spreading it on the rocks about us. We 
promised never to, tell the story, and I never did 
until after Lincoln's death." 

When Abraham was seven years old, his father 

moved across the Ohio River into Indiana. All 

the household Q-oods were carried on the backs 

of two horses. When the family reached their 

new farm, even the seven-year-old boy was given 

an axe to help in clearing the land. They built 

a little shed for their first home. Only three 

sides and the top were enclosed ; the other was 

entirely open to the weather. In this shelter the 

family lived not only through the summer, but 
16 



242 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

through the next winter. Just imagine all the 
cold and suffering they must have endured in 
those long, bleak months ! 

B)^ the next spring Thomas Lincoln had built 
a cabin, but it was only a little better than the 
camp house. I o be sure it had four sides and 
a loft ; but there was no floor, no glass, not even 
oiled paper at the windows, and the doorway 
was without a door. The furniture which they 
had made themselves was as rude as the house. 
Down stairs a rough, uncomfortable bed was 
fastened to the wall, but Abraham slept on a pile 
of leaves in the loft. 

Mrs. Lincoln died not many years after she 
moved to Indiana, and the next year was a ter- 
rible time for Thomas Lincoln and his little 
family. Then he went to Kentucky, and when 
he returned he brought home a new mother for 
his children. A better day began immediately 
in the little loor cabin. This Mrs. Lincoln was a 
woman of action and strong character, and she 
had a heart full of love. She had three children 
of her own, but she had lov^e enough to spare 
for the boy and the girl she found in her new 
Indiana home. Her thoughtfulness and sym- 
pathy had a great deal to do in making Abraham 
the great man he was. 

He loved his step-mother in return and was 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



243 



always kind to her. Long years afterwards, 
when he was dead and she was a very old woman, 
she said, " Abe was a good boy, and I can say 
what scarcely one woman — a mother — can say in 
a thousand. Abe never gave me a cross word 
or look and never 
refused, in fact or 
appearance, to do 
anything I re- 
quested him. He 
was a dutiful son 
to me always. I 
think he loved me 
tridy." His mother 
was not the only 
one who loved 
Abraham Lincoln. 
Few ever had any 
dealinors with him 
who did not honor 
and love him. 

As he grew older 
he became very tall and strong. No one could 
lift more or use the axe to greater advantage 
than he. " My ! how he could chop !" said his 
cousin. " His axe would flash and bite into a 
sugar tree or sycamore, and down it would come. 
If you heard him felling a tree in a clearing, you 




SAKAH HUSH LIiNCOLN, AbKAUAM 

Lincoln's stkp-mother 



244 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

would say that three men were at work by the 
way the tree fell." 

Still it was not his strength alone that made 
him in great demand among the farmers. His 
kindness to all, animals as well as children, and 
his willingness to do anything and everything, 
made him a welcome member of any family. 
The farmers sometimes complained that he 
wasted his time and that of the other hands, be- 
cause he liked to get up on a stump and make 
speeches on all sorts of subjects ; but he worked 
so fast and to such good purpose when he did 
work, that he more than made up for this idle 
time. In fact, his employers themselves rather 
enjoyed the speeches and admired him for his 
ability. 

Lincoln's honesty was another trait that won 
him the respect of his neighbors and the name 
"honest Abe." At one time, while he was serv- 
ing as a clerk in a store, he found that he had 
charged a customer six and a quarter cents too 
much. That night after the store was closed, he 
walked three miles to return the money. Later 
in life, when he failed in business, he was owing 
eleven hundred dollars, a large sum for that time 
and place. He jokingly called it the "national 
debt " ; though he said, " It was the greatest 
obstacle I ever met in life. I could not earn the 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



245 



money except by labor, and to earn by labor 
eleven hundred dollars besides my living seemed 
the work of a life-time." It was fifteen years 
before the debt was paid, but 
then it was paid to the last 
cent. 

Abraham Lincoln's school 
days amounted to about a 
year all told. He was rather 
slow, but he mastered every 
lesson. He became the best 
speller in the county, and 
was barred out of the spelling 
matches because nobody else 
had a chance of winning if he 
was in the line. His educa- 
tion was obtained from 
books, not from schools. He 
had a few choice volumes 
of his own ; the Bible, 
" Robinson Crusoe," 
" Pilgrim's Progress," 
and two or three others. 
These he read and re- 
read until he knew them 
by heart. He borrowed everything readable in 
the neighborhood for miles around. When lie 
could not get anything else, he read the dic- 




COSTUME ACTUALLY WORN BY A 
MATRON OF ILLINOIS IN THE 
DAYS OF LINCOLN'S YOUTH 



246 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

tionary and apparently found it as interesting as 
a story. 

When in his reading of a borrowed book he 
came across a passage that seemed to him to be 
worth remembering, he copied it in a blank book. 
In his spare moments, when not reading, he would 
write compositions and work out examples in 
arithmetic. Paper was too scarce to be wasted ; 
so he did his sums and wrote his compositions 
on the back of the wooden fire-shovel, and when 
it was covered he shaved it off and covered it 
again. 

His father did not always sympathize with his 
desire to learn, but his mother arranged matters 
so that his time was his own when his day's work 
was done. His cousin said, "When Abe and I 
returned to the house from work he would go to 
the cupboard, snatch a piece of corn bread, take 
down a book, sit down, cock his legs up as high 
as his head and read." His mother took care 
that he was not disturbed and "let him read on," 
she said, "until he quit of his own accord." 

When he was twenty-one, Lincoln started out 
for himself. He attempted many things — be- 
came store-keeper, postmaster, surveyor, captain 
in the Black Hawk War, member of the State 
legislature of Illinois. He studied law and was 
admitted to the bar. All this time he kept grow- 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



247 



ing in mental ability and power and in the esti- 
mation of his associates. 

As a lawyer, he showed the same traits that 
had given him in his youth the name of " honest 
Abe " ; and many stories are told of his refusal 
to have anything to do with dishonest cases. 
He used to say that if he attempted to plead a 
doubtful case, the jury would see that he thought 




Lincoln's surveying instruments 

the defendant guilty, and convict him. Once he 
refused a case with these words : 

" Yes, there is no reasonable doubt but that I 
can gain your case for you. I can get a whole 
neighborhood at loggerheads. I can distress a 
widowed mother and six fatherless children, and 
thereby get for you six hundred dollars, which 
rightfully belongs, it appears to me, as much to 
them as it does to you. I shall not take your 
case, but I will give a little advice for nothing. 
You seem a sprightly, energetic man. I would 



248 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



advise you to try your hand at making- six hun- 
dred dollars in some other way." 

It was natural for one who had such ability in 
public speaking and such a large circle of friends 
to go into politics. It was a time when great 

questions were 
disturbing the 
nation. The 
North and the 
South were dai- 
ly growing far- 
ther and far- 
ther apart over 
the question 
whether it was 
right or wrong 
to keep men 
and women in 
slavery. Lin- 
coln was born 
in a slave state, 
LINCOLN IN 1S57. 3nj so .^ei-e 

his father and mother, but they had become op- 
posed to slavery. 

Before the time for the election of President 
came around in i860, Lincoln had grown so 
prominent in the West that his fame had ex- 
tended all over the nation. He was nominated 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN 249 

for President with great enthusiasm, and was 
elected the next autumn. His election caused 
tremendous excitement in the South. South 
Carolina immediately declared that she was no 
longer a part of the Union. Other states fol- 
lowed her example, and the terrible War of 
Secession began. It was a war between people 
of the same race, a war between brothers, and 
no war can be so bitter or so sad as this. 

We are more and more clearly seeing, as the 
years go by, how fortunate the nation was to 
have at its head at this time a man like Abra- 
ham Lincoln. When it was first suo-orested to 
him to become a candidate for the Presidency, 
he did not wish to. He fcdt that he could do 
better work for the nation in some other place ; 
but when he was elected he was not one to shirk 
his duties, no matter how hard they might be. 
He said to a friend, " I see the storm coming 
and I know that God's hand is in it. If He has 
a place and work for me, and I think He has, I 
believe I am ready. I am nothing, but truth is 
everything." 

Few men would have had the wisdom and pa- 
tience that he showed when there was so much 
need for wisdom and patience ; but the suffer- 
incrs of the soldiers and the sorrows of the 
women and children who were left behind in the 



250 AMERICAN PION'EERS 

many homes both North and South nearly wore 
him out. We have already seen how his kind 
heart was ever touched by any call for help and 
sympathy. His long body grew thinner and 
thinner, and the sad lines about his mouth grew 
sadder and sadder. At times he would hardly 
eat and could not sleep, and then it seemed to 
him that there was not a ray of light anywhere 
in all the darkness. 

A beautiful story is told of the conversation 
Lincoln had with a company of ladies who had 

called at the White House. 
It was at a time when he 
THE AUTOGRAPH OK LINCOLN was mucli discou raged, attd 
when his mouth "looked as if it never smiled." 
Many of the visitors wished that they had not 
come. Just then a little Quaker lady said some- 
thing to him, and at once a great change came 
in his whole appearance. 

" Friend Abraham," she said, "thee need not 
think thee stands alone. We are all praying for 
thee. The hearts of the people are behind thee, 
and thee cannot fail. Yea, as no man was ever 
loved before does this people love thee. Take 
comfort, Friend Abraham, God is with thee ; the 
people are behind thee." 

"I know it," he answered; and his voice 
trembled. "If I did not have the knowledge 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN 25 1 

that God is sustaining and will sustain me until 
my appointed work is done, I could not live If 
I did not believe that the hearts of all loyal peo- 
ple were with me, I could not endure it. My 
heart would have broken long ago. 

" You have given a cup of cold water to a very 
thirsty and grateful man. I knew it before. I 
knew that good men and women were praying 
for me, but I was so tired I had almost forgot- 
ten. God bless you all." 

During the second year of the war, President 
Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation. 
The story of this proclamation is most interest- 
ing. President Lincoln had long had it in mind; 
and though some people, impatient of delay, had 
urged him to issue it at an earlier date, he and 
his cabinet felt that the nation as a whole was 
not ready for it. He decided to wait until the 
Union army had gained a decisive victory ; and 
although the proclamation was already written, 
he laid it away in his desk for two months. 

Finally came the battle of Antietam. When the 
news reached Washington that General Lee had 
recrossed the Potomac, President Lincoln called 
together his cabinet. After a little general talk, 
he told them that he had just been reading a 
book by Artemus Ward and asked them to lis- 
ten to a chapter that he thought was especially 



252 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



funny. The cabinet enjoyed the reading, but 
wondered why he had summoned them at such a 
time just to hear a chapter from an amusing book. 
Suddenly the President grew grave. He re- 
minded them that several weeks before he had 




THE NATIONAL CATITOL AT WASHINOTON 

brought an important matter before them, and 
they had decided that it would be best to lay 
it aside for awhile. " When Lee crossed the 
Potomac, I made a promise," he said, " as soon 
as his army should be driven out of Maryland, 
to issue a proclamation of emancipation. I said 
nothing to any one, but I made the promise to 
myself and to my Maker, lliat army is now 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 253 

driven out, and I ani going to fulfill that promise. 
I have got you together to hear what I have 
written down." 

After the reading the cabinet discussed the 
proclamation, and a few slight changes were 
made. That afternoon It was given to the news- 
papers, and the next morning it was read all over 
the United States. This was the preliminary pro- 
clamation, as it was called, and was really a warn- 
ing that on New Year's Day, 1863, the President 
would declare all the slaves in the seceding^ states 
free men. The second Emancipation Proclama- 
tion was signed and went into effect on that day. 

President Lincoln had been standing for three 
hours in the Blue Room of the White House 
shaking hands with the long line of visitors who 
had come to the New Year's reception. When 
the last visitor had ijone, he went into his office, 
took out the Proclamation and signed it. His 
hand was so stiff and tired that he could hardly 
hold the pen, and he said to his Secretary of State 
when he had written his name that people seeing 
it would think that he hesitated, when, instead, 
his whole heart was in it. Two or three years 
later, when the war was ended, an amendment to 
the Constitution was adopted, by which all slaves 
were freed and slavery in the United States was 
prohibited. 



254 



AMERICAN liUisEERS 



Less than a week after Lee's final surrender, 
President Lincoln was shot and killed. Imme- 







Augustus Saint Gaut^i'its 

STATUE OF LINCOLN IN LINCOLN I'ARK, CHICAGO 



diately joy was hushed ; sorrow took the place 
of gladness. All classes of people mourned for 
him. The North and the South together lamented 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



255 



his loss. Al! his enertxies throug-hout those four 
years of war had been used to defeat the Con- 
federates, yet they had come to know that he was 
their true friend. 

The character of Abraham Lincoln is in many 
ways worthy of imitation. He had his faults as 
has every man, but they have been almost for- 
gotten because his virtues were so many. Lin- 
coln was not great because he was President. 
He was great because he made the best use of 
every opportunity that came to him. 




PIONEERS OF REFORM 

Education 
CHAPTER XXII 

JOHN HARVARD 
1607 1638 

IV/rANY of the men who first came to Massa- 
chusetts had been graduated from En- 
glish universities. They had hardly built their 
homes and planted their farms in the new land, be- 
fore they began to be troubled about the educa- 
tion of their children. Because their lives were to 
be spent in the wilderness was no reason why they 
should grow up in ignorance. Perhaps the wilder- 
ness would not always be a wilderness. The chil- 
dren and the children's children must be fitted to 
perform well their parts in the life that was to come. 
To send the boys back to England to be edu- 
cated was unwise in many ways. Why not start a 
college in America? So only six years after the 



JOHN HARVARD 257 

coming of the fathers, a sum of money was appro- 
priated A place was chosen across the river 
from Boston, in Newtown ; and in memory of the 
University at Cambridge, England, where so 
many of the Puritans had been to school, the 
name of the town was changed to Cambridge. 

For one reason and another there was consider- 
able delay in getting the college started. The 
delay might have been much longer, if a certain 
young man had not arrived in Massachusetts 
about this time. His name was John Harvard ; 
and until recently people have known very little 
about him except that he was a minister, that he 
died, and that he left money to the new college. 
Now, scholars have discovered that his mother 
lived when a girl in a house that is still stand- 
ing in Stratford-on-Avon not far from William 
Shakespeare's home ; and that his father was a 
butcher and kept an inn near London Bridge. 
We know that he had nine brothers and sisters, 
that his father died at the time of a great plague, 
that John Harvard went to college, that he mar- 
ried, and that he came to America ; but we still 
have to guess at much that makes the story of 
a man's life interesting. Yet for all this, John 
Harvard's name will be known as long as America 
shall last. 

John Harvard settled in Charlestown and at 
17 



258 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



once became interested in all that concerned the 
little colony. Amon^ the things that were much 
talked about was the new college over in Cam- 
bridge. People soon learned to love the young 
minister, and they grieved when he died after 
being in America only a little over a year. When 




INTEKIOK OF THE GUAMMAK SCHOOL AT STRATFORD-ON-AVON, 
UNCHANGED SINCE THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 



his will was opened, it was found that he had 
left his library and half his property to the col- 
leo^e at Cambridge. 

The library was a very small one compared with 
even the private libraries of the present day ; and 
the gift of money was very mean compared with 



JOHN HARVARD 



259 



the great gifts that men of wealth now give to col- 
leges. Yet, it was a large gift for that time, and 
it was enough to start the new school. The col- 
ony showed its gratitude by voting " It shall bee 
called Harvard College." A president was ap- 
pointed, a building was erected, and students 
began to at- 
tend. In a 
few years the 
college be- 
came so well 
known that 
people over 
in England 
gave money 
to carry on 
its work, and even sent tiieir boys to Harvard to 
be educated. 

Harvard students of to-day would consider 
college life two hundred and fifty years ago very 
strict and very severe. Perhaps student life of 
to-day will seem as strange to Harvard men two 
hundred and fifty years hence. The first build- 
ing had only two chimneys, one in the kitchen 
and one in the hall where the students ate and 
studied when it was too cold to sit in their rooms. 
All the students were obliged to eat together at 
" commons," as it was called. The food was 




' ignni/ iH^^fiiX'if^^ i'V Paul AVrw r 
HARVARD COLLEGE IN 172O 



26o AMERICAN PIONEERS 

poor and badly served, and the stewards were 
not compelled to wash up the dishes. Breakfast 
was ready in the summer time at sunrise, and in 
the winter as soon as it began to grow light. A 
small can of muddy coffee, a biscuit, and a bit of 
butter made up the breakfast for each student. 
At dinner three days in the week he had a 
pound of meat boiled, and a pound of roasted 
meat the remaining days. With the meat were 
served two potatoes, and, on boiling days, cab- 
bage, wild peas, and dandelions, in their season, 
and some kind of pudding. The upper-classmen 
were served first and then the lower-classmen. 
Often times the latter's share was pretty small 
Cider was the only thing to be had in abundance. 
This was brought in in a large pewter can and 
passed around the table from student to student, 
each one drinking his share from the common 
dish. Supper was usually eaten in the rooms 
and consisted of a bowl of milk and a piece of 
bread. 

College life was a serious matter and the stu- 
dent's time was well filled. Much attention was 
paid to the- study of the Scriptures. Every morn- 
ing in the college chapel each student was obliged 
to translate into Greek a portion of the Bible 
printed in Hebrew. In the evening he must 
translate the English version into Greek. On 



JOHN HARVARD 261 

Sunday he must pay good attention to the ser- 
mon, for not only must he give its text and divi- 
sions, but he must repeat long portions of it. 
This was not an easy task by any means. Ser- 
mons in those days were long and difficult 
to remember. Students were obliged also to 
know Latin thoroughly. If one student met 
another in the college yard he did not call out a 
cheery " Hello !" Oh, no ! Whatever he said 
must be said in the Latin tongue. 

There were many laws in the early times, 
defininof what a student could do and could not 
do. The things he could do were few, but the 
things he could not do were many. If he broke 
the rules, he might be reproved or fined. If he 
persisted in breaking the rules, he was whipped. 
On such an occasion the students were all gathered 
in the library. The culprit was brought in before 
the president and the other officers of the college. 
After his sentence was read he knelt, and the pres- 
ident offered prayer. Then the prison-keeper at 
Cambridge gave the whipping ; ten lashes if the 
offense was very bad, fewer if it was slight. The 
president closed the exercises with another prayer, 
and the students filed out. The punishment was 
not yet over. The offender must sit alone at 
meal-time, and he might be prevented from grad- 
uating with his class. 



262 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



College life fell the heaviest upon the freshmen, 
and they must have drawn a breath of relief 
when the first year was over. They were obliged 
to run errands for the upper-classmen and were 
at their beck and call outside of study hours. 
No freshman could wear his hat while talkine to 




THE COLLEGE YARD Al" HARVARD TO-DAY 

the seniors, and even in the college yard he must 
eo bare-headed unless his hands were full or the 
weather was stormy. This custom of taking off 
the hat to the upper-classmen was continued 
many years and was then broken up by a fresh- 
man who afterwards became a professor in the 
college. 

One day he refused tg take off his hat, and the 



JOHN HARVARD 263 

upper class man went to President Willard and 
complained. 

" Go to Hedge's room," said the President, 
"and tell him that I want to sec him immediately, 
and do you come back with him." 

The senior gladly hurried off on his errand. 
" Come, Hedge," said he. " You must go with 
me to the President's study. I have complained 
to him about your not taking off your hat, and 
he told me to tell you he wanted to see you im- 
mediately. I guess you have got to take it now. 
Come quick." 

"Certainly I will go," replied the freshman. 
He put on his hat, and the)- walked out cf the 
room together. The moment they reached the 
yard, the senior stopped and said, " Come, take 
off your hat, sir. I am going to have no more 
of this thing I can tell you." 

" Very well, sir," replied Hedge, and took off 
his hat. " There, sir, my hat is off, and now, 
take off yours." 

The senior looked at his clinched fists and 
hesitated. " Take it off, sir. immediately," said 
the freshman firmly, "or I will knock you down." 

When they reached the President's study he 
said, " How is this ? D. says that you do not 
take off your hat when you see him or meet him 
in the college yard." 



264 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



Hedge replied, " I don't like the custom. 
There is no law ordering or enforcing it, I be- 
lieve. In the college yard or out of it I am per- 
fectly willing to take off my hat to any gentleman 

who shows me the 
same courtesy." 

The senior then 
told the story of 
what had occurred 
on the way. 

" Oh ! " said the 
President. "Hedge 
took off his hat the 
moment you asked 
him to do so, did 
he not ? " 
Yes, sir. 
" What did he 
do then ? " 

" He told me to 
take off my hat or 
he would knock 
me down." 

"Well, what did 
you do ? " 
" Why, sir, I didn't want to fight or be knocked 
down, so I took off my hat." 

" Well," answered the President, "I think that 




MONUMENT EUKCTKI) AT CHARLESTUWN, 
MASSACHUSETTS, IN 1828, BY " THK 
GRADUATES OF THE UNIVERSITY OK 
CAMBRIDGE, NEW ENGLAND ... IN 
PIOUS AND PERPETUAL REMEMBRANCE 
OF JOHN HARVARD " 



JOHN HARVARD 



265 



is a very good rule for you and the others to 
follow. If you don't want to be knocked down, 
take off your hat to those from whom you expect 
or desire a like courtesy to you." 

From a very small beginning has grown the 
largest of the American universities. Its one 
building has increased to scores ; its professors 
number hundreds instead of tens ; and its stu- 
dents, thousands instead of twenties. Now col- 
leges and universities are to be found in every 
state of the Union, but Harvard was the first, 
the pioneer college, and as such will ever be dear 
to the American people. 




The Royal Arms of Massachusetts 



CHAPTER XXIII 

HORACE MANN 
1796-1859 

TTORACE MANN was born in the town of 
Franklin, Massachusetts, just before the 
beginning of the nineteenth century. His father 
owned a small farm, but had very little other 
property. He died when Horace was thirteen 
years old, and after that the boy hardly knew 
what play or holidays meant. Work began at 
sunrise in the morning and frequently continued 
until after dark. In the summer he attended to 
the various duties of the farm ; in the winter he 
went to school, but still had the chores to do and 
any other work that would earn a penny. Life 
was a hard treadmill, but it did not at all prove 
that "all work and no play" made Horace a 
"dull boy." However, "all work" did under- 
mine his strength so that he suffered from ill- 
health all his life. 

The school that Horace attended was like 
most of the country schools of that day, barren 
and uncomfortable. There were no bright, pleas- 



HORACE MANN 



i^y 



ant schoolrooms, airy in summer and warm in 
winter. There were no comfortable seats, no 
convenient desks. There were no pictures on 
the walls, no blackboards, no globes, no maps, 
no books of reference. Children had little in 
those days to make school pleisant or interesting. 
School life, like the 
home life, was stern 
and full of drudgery. • 

The district school- 
houses had but one 
room. The seats were 
long- benches runninor 
around three sides of 
the room, and in front 
of them were rude 
planks for desks. The 
studies were mostly 
confined to "the three R's," as they were called, 
" readin', ritin', and 'rithmetic." If a boy did not 
expect to go to college he was thought to be 
sufficiently educated for all practical purposes if 
he could read and write and was able to keep his 
business accounts. 

The school books were dry and uninteresting. 
They were bound either in leather with paste- 
board foundation, or else with thin, wooden sides, 
covered with paper and with backs of leather. 




HORACE MANN 



268 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

Each child bought his own books ; and if he had 
no money to buy a book, he had to go without 
and pick up his lessons the best way he could. 
Because school books were scarce and difficult 
to obtain, they were carefully kept and highly 
prized. Horace earned his books by braiding 
straw. In later years he wrote, " I was taught 
to take care of the few books we had as though 
there was something sacred about them. I never 
dog-eared one in my life, nor profanely scribbled 
upon title pages, margin, or fly leaf ; and would as 
soon have stuck a pin through my flesh as through 
the pages of a book." 

Probably the most important school book of 
that time was Webster's " Blue-back Spelling 
Book." It was prepared by Noah Webster, who 
made the famous Webster's Dictionary which 
has grown to such a great size in the present 
day. Webster considered that the " spelling 
book does more to form the language of a na- 
tion than all other books," and most teachers 
and parents of that day agreed with him. A 
boy or a girl who could spell down all the others 
at school or at the spelling matches was held in 
high honor. 

An amusing story from a little book, " The 
District School As It Was," well illustrates 
some of the spelling methods and other customs 



HORACE MANN 



269 



of the old-time school. In a certain district was 
a famous speller called " Memorous," because no 
word was too long or too hard for his memory 
to retain. 

" It happened one day that the ' cut and split ' 
for the fire fell short, and Jonas Patch was out 




A SCHOOLROOM WHEN HORACE MANN WAS A BOY 

wielding the axe in school time. He had been 
at work about half an hour, when Memorous, who 
was perceived to have less to do than the rest, 
was sent out to take his place. He was about 
ten years old and four years younger than Jonas. 
" ' Memorous,' said the master, ' you may go 
out and spell Jonas.' 



270 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

" Memorous did not think of tlie Yankee sense 
in which the master used the word ' spell ' (that 
is, to relieve some one of work) : indeed, he had 
never attached but one meaning to it, whenever 
it was used in reference to himself. So he put 
his spelling-book under his arm, and ran to the 
wood-pile with the speed of a boy rushing to piay. 

" 'Ye got yer spellin' lesson, Jonas ?' was his 
first salutation. 

" ' Haven't looked at it, yit,' was the reply. 
' I mean to cut up this great log, spellin' or no 
spellin' before I go in. I had as lieve keep warm 
here choppin' wood, as to freeze up there in 
that cold back seat.' 

" ' Well, the master sent me out to hear you 
spell.' 

" ' Did he? Well, put out the words, and I'll 
spell.' 

" Memorous being so distinguished a speller, 
Jonas did not doubt but that he was really sent 
out on this errand. So our deputy spelling-mas- 
ter mounted the top of the wood-pile, just in 
front of Jonas, to put out words to his pupil, 
who still kept on cutting out chips. 

" ' Do you know where the lesson begins, 
Jonas?' 

" ' N o, I don't ; but I s'pose I shall find out now.' 

•' 'Well, here 'tis. Spell A-bofh-i-na-tion.' 



HORACE MANN 27 1 

"Jonas spells. ' A-b-o-m, bom, a-bom (In the 
mean time up goes the axe high in air), i, a-bom-i 
(down it goes again chuck into the wood), n-a, 
na, a-bom-i-na (up it goes again), t-i-o-n, tion, 
a-bom-i-na-tion.' Chuck the axe goes again, and 
at the same time out flies a furious chip, and hits 
MemoroLis on the nose. 

" At this moment the master appears at the 
corner of the schoolhouse. 'Jonas, why don't 
you come in ? Didn't I send Memorous out to 
spell you ? ' 

" ' Yes, sir, and he has been spelling me ; how 
could I come in if he spelt me out here ?' 

" At this the master's eye caught Memorous 
perched upon the top stick, with his book 
open upon his lap, rubbing his nose, and just 
in the act of putting out the next word of the 
column. 

" ' Ac-com-mo-da-tion,' pronounced Memorous 
in a broken but louder voice than before, for he 
had caught a glimpse of the' master and wished 
to let him know that he was doing his duty. 

" This was too much for the master's gravity. 
He perceived the mistake, and, without saying 
more, wheeled back into the schoolroom, almost 
bursting with the most tumultuous laugh he ever 
tried to suppress. The scholars wondered at 
bis looks and grinned in sympathy. 



272 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

" In a few minutes Jonas came in, followed by 
Memorous with his spelling-book. 

" ' I have heard him spell clean through the 
whole lesson,' he exclaimed, ' and he didn't spell 
hardly none of 'em right.' 

"The master could hold in no longer, and the 
scholars perceiving the blunder joined in with 
his laughter : laughing twice as loud and up- 
roariously in consequence of being permitted to 
laugh in school time and to do it with the 
master." 

A book that had been used a much lonsfer 
time than the Webster's Speller was the " New 
England Primer." This little book combined 
religious teachings with the A, B, C's. The al- 
phabet began with, 

" In Adam's fall 
We sinned all." 



and ended with 



Zaccheus he 

Did climb the Tree 

His Lord to see." 



Another strange book of the early times was 
"A Lottery Book for Children." On one side 
of the leaf were two pictures, on the other was a 
letter of the alphabet. The pupil tried to pierce 



HORACE MANN 273 

the letter by sticking a pin through the picture 
on the other side. After each trial the leaf 
would be turned ; and it was expected that by 

p THE 

iPRlMERt 

t ENLARGED^ f 

A Otg' an cafy and pteifant ^ 

^ Guide to the Art of Reading. ^ 
^; Adorn'd with Cuts, ^ 

**' To u'VfVfi art added, *^ 

I The AfTembly of Divines, | 
% and Mr. Cotton's i^ 
f CATECHISM, 8ca f 

t ^ 

f If S T O N: ^ 

J Pflited by E Draffr. for B. ^ 

^3 -Jo 

TITLE PAGE OF A COPY OF " THE NEW ENGLAND 
PRIMER," PUBLISHED ABOUT I785 

the time success was reached, the letter would 
be so firmly fixed on the mind that it never 
would be fororotten. 

The schools were kept in summer and in 
winter. In summer the teacher was usually a 
18 



274 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

woman, for then all the big boys and girls were 
kept busy on the farms. In winter the teacher 
was a man, for strength was necessary to hold 
the unruly boys to their tasks. Birch rods, the 
ferule, and the strap were important furnishings 
of a schoolroom. In fact many teachers knew 
better how to use the svvitcli than how to use 
the school books. And they knew better how 
to use books than how to bringr out the talents 
of tlie children in their care. 

Poor little Horace Mann, whose mind was so 
full of thouorhts that he must use his h nosers to 
express them, was smartly called to order by a 
crack across the knuckles when he attempted to 
make some drawings. He used to think in after 
years that he might have become a poet or an 
artist if his teachers had only understood him 
better. No wonder that he said that his teach- 
ers were "very good people but very poor 
teachers." 

Finally Horace came under the care of a 
master who inspired him with a desire to go to 
college. Up to this time he had been to school 
not more than eight or ten weeks in any year. 
He was now twenty years old, and in four 
months he learned Latin enough not only to enter 
college but to enter it in the sophomore class. 
This severe study was a terrible strain, and he 



HORACE MANN 



275 



felt its effects all his life. After he left college 
he studied law, taught Latin and Greek, opened 
a law office in Boston, and later was elected a 
member of the Massachusetts legislature. He 
made a name for himself in all these professions. 

Horace Mann became a member of the Gen- 
eral Court at a time when 
the attention of the people 
was being called to the 
condition of the public 
schools. The schools had 
been started many years 
before, indeed almost as 
soon as the first settlers 
came to Massachusetts. It 
was the thought of the fa- 
thers that all children must 
be taught to read " lest 
that old deluder, Satan, 
should keep men from the 
knowledge of the Scrip- 
tures." The schools so well begun had got 
into a bad state as the years went by. The bet- 
ter class of parents would not send their children 
to the public schools, and few attended who 
could afford to pay tuition at private schools. 

Now, in the hope of restoring the old custom 
of having the rich and the poor educated to- 




STATUE OF HOKACK MANN IN 
KRONT OF THE .STATE 
HOUSE IN HOSTON 



2/6 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

gether, a committee was appointed to reform the 
public schools. Mr. Mann became its first sec- 
retary and upon him most of the work fell. He 
entered upon his duties feeling that an oppor- 
tunity for great usefulness had been given him. 
" What surprises me as most extraordinary in 
relation to my new office," he wrote to a friend, 
" is that every man inquires concerning the 
salary or makes remarks that look wholly to the 
comparative honor of the station, while no man 
seems to recognize its possible usefulness." 

In spite of ill-health Mr. Mann was a great 
worker. His motto in life was 

" Count that day lost whose low descending sun 
Views at thy hand no worthy action done." 

He now found a chance for all the hard work 
he could do. Most people thought that the 
schools did not need reform. Some considered 
that they were good enough as they were. Others 
thought that better schools would mean more 
taxation and therefore objected to a change. 
Even the best of the teachers opposed his plans, 
but Mr. Mann kept doggedly at his purpose to 
improve the schools. " If the Lord will, I will," 
he wrote after the miserable failure of a teacher's 
convention that he had tried to hold. " That is, 
I will work in this moral as well as physical sand- 



HORACE MANN 



277 



bank of a country until I can get some new thing 
to grow out of it." 

He was Secretary of the Board of Education 
for twelve years, and during this time many 
things began to grow. Normal schools for the 
training of teachers were started ; conventions for 
the discussion of plans were instituted ; books 




HORACE MANN SCHOOL, UNDER THE AUSl'lCES OK 1 EACHERS COLLEGE, 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK CITY: SO NAMED IN RECOGNITION 
OF THE WORK OF HORACE MANN 



were improved and multiplied ; and appliances 
increased. With better teachers and better 
methods, came better results ; and once more 
the people began to have confidence in their 
schools. 

Other New Enofland states followed the ex- 



278 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



ample of Massachusetts, and from New England 
the reform spread all over the country. New 
methods have continually taken the place of out- 
worn methods, until now the public schools of 
America are the best that can be found in any 
land. 




Mending the Quill-Pen 



CHAPTER XIV 

MARY LYON 
I 797- I 849 

\\ZE have seen in the last two chapters how 
anxious the first settlers in America were 
that their children should have an education, but 
most of their thought was spent on the education 
of iheir boys. When Harvard was started, no 
one had even dreamed that a girl ought to go or 
would ever wish to go to college. Why should 
a girl go to college ? She could not be a minister, 
or a lawyer, or a doctor. It was her duty to look 
after the affairs of the household ; and she did not 
need Greek to cook, or Latin to spin, or mathe- 
matics to weave. Even the grammar schools 
were not for girls. The grammar schools were to 
fit boys for college ; and as girls did not go to 
college, they did not go to the grammar schools. 
Just a hundred and fifty years went by after 
the establishment of public schools before girls 
were permitted to enter the schools of Boston. 
Then they were opened to girls only in the sum- 
mer months when most of the boys were busy 



28o 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



with out-of-tloor duties. What was true of Bos- 
ton was true of other towns and villages through- 
out the colonies. What little a girl knew about 
books, she learned at home, or at the minister's, 
or at a " dame school." As " dame schools " were 
usually kept by old women who were taken 
care of by the town, the amount of instruction 

that a girl could 
get at one of these 
schools was small 
indeed. 

Women had very 
little time or use 
for many things 
that women now- 
a-days think they 
cannot get along 
without. We must 
remember that clothing and food could not be 
bought at the stores as they can be now. In 
those days most people lived on farms where 
almost everything that they ate or wore was pro- 
duced. Wool was cut from the backs of the 
sheep that browsed in the pastures. It was 
carded, spun, woven and made into garments and 
blankets by the women of the household. Flax 
was grown in the fields, made into cloth and 
fashioned into sheets, tablecloths, and under gar- 




AN (U.D-lASlllUNEU LUUiM 



MARY LYON 28 1 

ments. Women braided straw for hats, knit 
stockings, gloves and mittens, churned butter, 
set cheese, dried fruits and vegetables for winter 
use, and looked after the many needs of their 
large families. The girls were given their home 
duties almost as soon as they could walk, and 
even a child of four has been known to knit her- 
self a pair of stockings. 

Up to the beginning of the nineteenth century, 
most people thought that if girls knew how to 
read they had about all the " book learning" that 
was needed. It was not necessary for them to 
learn to write, for very few women ever had 
occasion to write a letter ; and if they had to sign 
their name to a deed or some other legal paper, 
" a mark " would do just as well as their written 
name. As for arithmetic, " All a girl needs to 
know," some one said, " is enough to reckon how 
much she will need to spin to buy a peck of 
potatoes in case she becomes a widow." Said 
another, " If you expect to become a widow and 
have to carry pork to market, it may be Well 
enough to study mental arithmetic." 

The story is told of a girl who tried to study 
arithmetic by herself. The problems in interest 
bothered her, and she went to her elder brother 
for help. " I am ashamed," said he, " of a girl 
who wants to study interest." 



282 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



Of course here and there were women who 
could write good letters, do problems in algebra, 
and even read Latin. The less fortunate women 
spoke of them with awe and admiration. Horace 
Mann tells us that when he was a boy a young 
woman who was said to 
have studied Latin visited 
at his father's house. " I 
looked upon her," he wrote, 
"as a sort of goddess." 

As the years went on, a 
change came in the condi- 
tion of the people in the 
colonies. The towns and 
villages grew larger, people 
had more money, and more 
things could be bous^ht at 
the stores. A woman's time 
was not so fully occupied 
with so great a variety of 
duties as heretofore. Girls were not so much 
needed at home, and it was necessary for them 
to go out to earn a little money. They became 
dissatisfied with their limited knowledge. They 
wanted to learn what the boys learned. One 
little girl went so far as to sit on the door-step of 
the schoolhouse so that she could hear the boys 
recite their lessons. So the schools were in 




AS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN 
LOOKED WHEN MARY LYON 
WAS A GIRL 



MARY LYON 283 

time opened for girls as well as for boys, and 
schoolmistresses began to take the place of mas- 
ters in the smaller schools. 

As the common schools did not give all that 
parents now wanted for their children, academies 
and seminaries were started here and there. 
There were people who thought that some of 
these institutions did almost more harm than 
good. One father said, " I spent a thousand 
dollars on the education of my daughter. I 
would give another thousand to undo it. She 
has been made vain, frivolous, and discontented 
with the plain, simple habits of home." Other 
academies — and there were many of them — were 
wise and helpful in their training, and some of 
the best have continued to the present day. Old- 
fashioned people were much troubled by these 
schools and by the new branches that girls now 
studied. " Who shall cook our food, or mend 
our clothes, if girls are to be taught philosophy 
and astronomy ?" they said. They little realized 
that the school would make them better cooks 
and housekeepers. 

At the time all these changes were going on 
in the thought and condition of the people in 
America, Mary Lyon was born in Buckland, 
Massachusetts. She grew up as did the other 
girls in the neighborhoofl, was taught to sew, to 



284 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



knit, and to spin, attended the district school and 
there learned to read, to write, and to spell. 
She learned her lessons faster than the other 
girls, however, and wanted to go further and to 
do more than was demanded by the teacher. 

One day she asked 
if she might not 
study grammar. In 
four days she had 
learned the contents 
of the whole book. 

Later on, when 
she was a student 
at Sanderson Acad- 
t;my, her teacher 
L^ave her a Latin 
grammar to study 
to keep her from 
going through the 
whole course while 
her mates were learning a few lessons. Li three 
days she had mastered the book so that she 
could recite it from beginning to end. It is said 
that tliat recitation lasted until after dark, and 
that her schoolmates forgot their work and the 
time of day as they listened to her perfect an- 
swers to the master's questions. 

The girls admired her, but they were never 




MARY LYON 



MARY LYOJJ 285 

jealous of her ability, because she was always 
ready to help and to encourage them, no matter 
how busy she was herself. While attending the 
academy, she earned her board by service in a 
household near by. She proved a good worker 
in the home as well as at school. A gentleman 
once asked the man in whose family she worked, 
" Well, this Mary Lyon is a wonderful girl, 
isn't she ? They say that none of the boys can 
keep up with her. But how is it about her 
work ? Does she really do anything or do you 
just give her her board?" 

" Well," was the reply, " Mary wings the pota- 
toes." 

This meant that she brushed off with a wing 
all the dust and dirt from the potatoes that had 
been roasted in the ashes of the open fireplace. 
What else she did the story does not tell, but 
the questioner understood that whatever she did, 
no matter how simple, was done thoroughly and 
well. 

Mary Lyon's school life amounted to only a 
few months all told, although it extended over 
many years. Her father died when she was 
seven years old, and most of the money for her 
tuition she was obliged to earn herself. When 
only fifteen, she kept house for her eldest 
brother. He paid her a dollar a week, which 



286 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



seemed a large sum to her and for which she was 
most grateful. " I never saw any such dollars 
before, nor have I since," she once said. " They 
were mine, and my dear brother had given them 
to me. I did weep over them." 




A NEW ENGLAND KITCHEN. !■ IKKl'IArK Willi IIAKE-OVEN AT THE 
RIHHT, SPINNING-WHEEL STANDING AT THE LEFT ; ON THE FLOOR, 
A RUG MADE OF STRIPS OF COTTON, BRAIDED AND SEWED BY HAND 



Later she taught school and received seventy- 
five cents a week for pay besides her board. 
She became much discouraged over this first 
school and thought that she would never make a 
good teacher. Others used to think so, too. 
" She will never equal her sister as a teacher," 



MARY LYON 28/ 

they said. In after years Miss Lyon used to 
say to her pupils, "If you commence teaching 
and do not succeed, teach till you do succeed." 
That was what she did herself. She became 
very popular as a teacher and was so beloved by 
the different families with whom she boarded, 
that each one would have been glad to keep her 
all the time. She was just as ready to help the 
busy mothers as she had been to assist her 
schoolmates. 

When Mary Lyon was twenty-four years old, 
she decided to cro to school airain. The Rev- 
erend Joseph Emerson had started an academy 
at By held, Massachusetts, which gave more ad- 
vanced work for women than any other school 
at that time. It was this school that she wished 
to attend. Her friends opposed her plan for 
various reasons. Perhaps some thought that 
already she knew more than a woman ought to 
know. Others thought that the journey was too 
long and expensive, as Hyfield was a long distance 
from her home. Still others might have thought 
that she was too old to go to school. Her 
mother, however, told her to go, and she set out 
for Byfield. It was before the days of the rail- 
road, and the journey that now can be made 
in a few hours then took three days. "You can 
hardly understand," she said in after years, 



288 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

" what a great thing it was to get to Byfield, It 
was almost like going to Europe now." 

At the academy she began to look upon a 
higher education in an entirely new way. Pre- 
viously she had studied because she loved to 
study and for the pleasure she got from it. Now 
she began to see that the more she knew the 
more chances for usefulness would come to her. 
This feeling increased as she began to teach 
again, and she now wished that she might start a 
school that would give to girls advantages for 
study not only greater than could then be found 
anywhere else, but such as would train them for 
wider usefulness. This unselfish view of the 
advantages of a higher education she constantly 
tried to keep before herself and her pupils. 
" Young ladies," she would say, " never ask to 
live simply for yourself. Live for the good of 
others." She felt that God had given women a 
great work to do in the world, and this work 
could not be well done unless their brains were 
as thoroughly trained as their hands. 

Through many years she worked and prayed. 
Friends came to her aid who were ready to help 
her with their money, their time, and their sym- 
pathy. Though at times their faith in the un- 
dertaking failed, her own never faltered. At 
last, in the autumn of 1837, everything was ready 



MARY LYON 



289 



and the day for the opening of the new school 
was at hand. Miss Lyon, who before had been 
so brave, now began to fear for the success of 
her school. " When I look forward to Novem- 
ber 8th," she said, " it seems like looking down 
a precipice of many hundred feet which I must 




MOUNT HOLVOKE FEMALE SEMINARY ; THE FIRST BUlLiUNG UF 
MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE 

descend." Thus was started Mount Holyoke 
Seminary, the first school that gave anything 
like a colles^e training to grirls. 

Mary Lyon remained at its head for twelve 
years. Her beautiful character and life influ- 
enced every girl who came into the school. 
19 



290 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



When the girls left it, they desired in their turn 
to make the most of their lives and opportunities 
for the good of the less fortunate. Many of 
them went as missionaries to heathen lands. 

When Mary Lyon died she was mourned the 
whole world around. "Is she missed?" some 




THE TALCOTT ARBORETUM, MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE, CONTAINING 
A COLLECTION OF RARE TROPICAL PLANTS 

one wrote soon after her death. " Scarcely a 
state of the American Union but contains those 
she trained. Long ere this, amid the hunting 
grounds of the Sioux and the villages of the 
Cherokees, the tear of the missionary has wet 
the page which told of Miss Lyon's departure. 
The Sandwich Islander will ask why his white 



MARY LYON 



291 



teacher's eye is dim as she reads her American 
letter. The swarthy African will lament with his 
sorrowing guide. The cinnamon groves of Cey- 
lon and the palm trees of India overshadow her 
early deceased missionary pupils. Among the 
Nestorians of Persia and at the base of Mount 
Olympus will her name be breathed softly as the 
household name of one whom God has taken." 

Now Mount Holyoke Seminary has become 
Mount Holyoke College. Now, in this country, 
instead of one school where girls can receive a 
college education, there are almost as many col- 
leges for women as for men. No longer is any 
brother ashamed of a sister who wishes " to learn 
interest." Rather is he ashamed of her if she 
does not wish to learn interest and much besides. 




CHAPTER XXV 

SAMUEL G, HOWE 
- , 1801-1876 

VT'OU have all heard of the yacht races off 
Sandy Hook on the Jersey coast. Year 
after year up to the present time ( 1905), an 
English yacht has crossed the Atlantic to win 
the cup that America has so long held. Each 
year the English boat has gone home again, de- 
feated, because the American yacht has outsailed 
and outclassed her in every way. You all re- 
member hearing- about the Reliance and the 
Columbia and perhaps some of the other boats ; 
but did you know that they were built by one 
firm of boat-builders, and that its president is 
John B. Herreshoff, a blind man? 

John Herreshoff has been blind since he was 
fourteen years old, but that has not kept him 
from making a place for himself in the world. 
Many of the fastest yachts, he has modeled with 
his own hands ; and his knowledge of all kinds 
of sea-going craft is so great that he can tell 
whether they can sail fast or slow, how much 



SAMUEL G. HOWE 



293 



wind and storm they can stand, and all about 
their value by passing his fingers over the mod- 
els. He also manages all the business affairs 
of the company, which makes torpedo boats for 
the American and European navies, as well as 
fast yachts for international races. 

Five hundred or even one hundred years ago, 
it was thought im- 
possible for blind 
people to earn a 
living except by 
begging. They 

were often neg- 
lected and some- 
times were even 
harshly treated. 
As time went on, 
men's hearts grew 
more tender to the 
sufferings of all 
unfortunate crea- 
tures, and more 
was done to make the life of the blind happier. 
Yet even then they were not taught to look out 
for themselves, and few could read or write. 

About seventy-five years ago, Samuel G. 
Howe, a young physician, gathered a little class 
of two or three blind children to his father's 




SAMUEL G. HOWE 



294 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

house in Boston. In teaching them, he made 
use of methods he had seen in Europe and of 
many more that he had planned for himself. 
With great patience and care he made for them 
a book with raised characters by pasting string 
on cardboard, in the form of letters of the alpha- 
bet. He also manufactured raised maps and 
with these taught lessons in geography. With 
fingers instead of eyes, the children learned 
to read ; and after a time when they had 
made considerable progress, he took them 
to various places to show what the blind could 
do. 

People became so much interested in Doctor 
Howe's pupils that one man gave his home, and 
others gave money, that the work might be en- 
larged and more unfortunate children helped. 
In this way the famous " Perkins Institute for 
the Blind" was started. It would be impossible 
to tell of all the joy and blessing and opportu- 
nities for usefulness that this school has given 
to hundreds of boys and girls. One little girl 
said, after she had been at the school a short 
time, " I don't mind it now beinfj blind, because 
I can go all around and I can sew and wash 
dishes and have my lessons and do just like other 
people." And many, many more do not mind 
being blind since they too can read and work 



SAMUEL G. HOWE 295 

like other people. Horace Mann once said, " I 
would rather have built up the Blind Asylum 
than have written Hamlet, and one day every- 
body will think so." 

Doctor Howe liad shown that the blind could 
be taught. It had already been clearly proved 
that the .deaf and the dumb could learn. But 
the blind had ears to help them and the deaf had 
eyes. How could a child that had neither sight 
nor hearing be taught? The question had been 
discussed, but no one had attempted to answer 
it. One summer while on a vacation trip to New 
Hampshire, Dr. Howe heard of a little girl who 
was not only blind and deaf and dumb, but who 
could not smell and could taste but little. She 
had been like other children until she was two 
years old. Then a severe attack of scarlet fever 
had left her in this sad condition. Only the 
sense of touch had been preserved, and all her 
knowledge of things about her must come to her 
through this sense alone. As soon as she was 
able to walk she began to make explorations 
about the house. She followed her mother wher- 
ever she went and felt everything she did, and 
in this way she learned to sew and to knit a lit- 
tle. It was almost impossible to talk with her 
except by a few signs. A pat on the head she 
knew meant that her friends were pleased with 



296 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



her ; a pat on the back told her that she had 
done wrong. 

Doctor Howe immediately became interested 





i ./ 




DR. HOWE TEACHING LAURA BRIDGMAN 

in little Laura Bridgman, and asked permission 
to take her to Boston in the autumn. All that 
summer he studied the problem of how he could 



SAMUEL G. HOWE 297 

teach the child to know what people said and to 
express her thoughts so that others could under- 
stand. It seemed an impossible task, for she had 
only fingers with which to learn what most chil- 
dren use eyes, ears, nose, and tongue to get. 

Doctor Howe once said " obstacles are things 
to overcome," and with the greatest patience he 
and his assistants set to work to overcome Laura's 
obstacles. They selected a few articles of every- 
day use — a spoon, a key, a knife, a fork, a chair 
— and pasted upon each its proper name in raised 
letters. Laura's tiny fingers were guided over 
the articles and over the labels until her instruc- 
tors felt that she knew that the raised letters of 
the word key went with the key itself and that 
the label that spelt fork belonged with the fork. 
The next step was to give her the labels and the 
articles separately. She placed the label key 
upon the key and the other labels in their proper 
places and was rewarded by a gentle pat on the 
head. After this Doctor Howe gave her the 
separate letters of the different words, and she 
arranged them in their right order. 

At first she did not seem to take much interest 
in the work; but within a few days her mind 
began to awake, and then her teachers could 
hardly keep pace with her eagerness to know the 
name of everything she could put her hands on. 



298 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

Then she was taught to use the deaf and dumb 
hand alphabet. In this alphabet, different posi- 
tions of the fingers mean different letters. Laura 
would put her hand over the hand of a person 
using these finger-letters, and through her sense 
of touch she could read off what was meant. 
Soon her own little fingers would spell out words 
so rapidly that it was often difficult to follow her. 

One of her early teachers, Miss Drew, says, 
" I shall never forget the first meal taken after 
she appreciated the use of the finger alphabet. 
Every article she touched must have a name, and 
I was obliged to call some one to help me wait 
upon the other children, while she kept me busy in 
spelling the new words." Laura taught the other 
blind children about her the use of the deaf and 
dumb alphabet, and so with their fingers they were 
able to talk together on each other's hands. 

She had much trouble in learnino; the irre^u- 
larities of the English language, which even 
children with eyes and ears find difficult. She 
easily understood that the word //and me'dnt just 
one hand and that if she added s, hands meant 
more than one. Therefore she wanted to form 
all plurals by adding s and thought that all nouns 
that ended in s were in the plural. The story is 
told that one of the crirls in the institution had 
the mumps. Laura learned the name of the 



SAMUEL G. HOWE 299 

disease and soon after had it herself, but only on 
one side. Some one said to her, " You have 
the mumps." " No," she replied, " I have the 
mump." The formation of different tenses of 
verbs also perplexed her. When she had learned 
the difference between jump and jiimpcdy she 
thought that she must always add cd to form the 
past tense of every verb. One day at dinner she 
asked if she should say cat, eatcd, and when told 
that it was cat, ate, she was very much amused 
and laughed heartily. 

Six months after Laura left her home in Han- 
over, her mother came to visit her. The child 
was playing with other children and was entirely 
unconscious that her mother was watching her 
with tears running down her cheeks. Laura hap- 
pened to run against her, and at once her inquisi- 
tive little fingers began to feel her dress. She 
did not know it and returned to her play. Her 
mother gave her a string of beads which she had 
worn at home. Laura instantly remembered 
them and with delight felt them all over and put 
them round her neck. Mrs. Bridgman then tried 
to put her arms around her child, but Laura would 
not stay with her and went back to her playmates. 

Again something from home was given her, 
and again she recollected that it came from Han- 
over. Laura now seemed to understand that the 



300 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



visitor was not a stranger, but some one whom 
she ought to know. She felt her mother's hands 
all over, and her face plainly showed that she 
was trying hard t:) remember who the visitor was. 




LAUKA DKIUGMAN TEACHING A FELLOW I'Ul'lL TO READ A HOOK OF 
RAISED LETTERS 

Her mother drew her to her and kissed her, and 
then the child recognized her. Her school 
friends no longer drew her away, and she nestled 
down happily in her mother's arms. When Mrs. 
Bridgman went home, Laura did not want to go 



SAMUEL G. HOWE 3OI 

with her, though she cried heartily at the parting. 
She seemed to reahze that only with Dr. Howe 
could she learn what she now so eagerly wanted 
to know. 

The rest of the story of Laura Bridgman's life 
is too long to tell at this time. We would natur- 
ally think that a life shut up behind the prison 
bars of blindness, deafness, and dumbness would 
be a cheerless one, but Laura grew to be a happy 
woman. She was able in part to earn her living 
by the work she did with her hands, and she was 
also a great help to Doctor Howe in teaching 
blind and deaf children. Her progress was 
watched with great interest by the people of 
England as well as of the United States. Doctor 
Howe became known the world over ; and schools 
were started in other parts of this country and 
in Europe which made use of his methods of 
teaching. 

Soon after opening the Perkins Institute, Doc- 
tor Howe was faced with a new difficulty. There 
were only three books in the whole school that 
the blind could read. In fact there were very 
few books anywhere that the blind could use, 
and these were heavy, unwieldly volumes, printed 
in Europe on coarse paper, in clumsy raised let- 
ters. Dr. Howe called the attention of the 
public to the uselessness of teaching the blind to 



302 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



read, unless books were provided for them. 
People used to say that all that Doctor Howe 
needed to do was to wave his wand, and every- 
body would do his will. Contributions of money 
began to come in, and soon the amount was 
sufficient to start a new printing establishment in 
America. 

Meanwhile Doctor Howe had been doing 




CONGRESSIONAL LIHKARY AT WASHINGTON, D. C., IN WHICH A ROOM 
FURNISHED WITH EMBOSSED-LETTER BOOKS IS SET APART FOR 
THE BLIND 



something besides collecting money. With the 
help of a clever printer, he had invented a print- 
ing press that would produce better work than 
the European presses. When the books ap- 
peared, they were neat volumes, printed on thin 
paper, in simple letters that could be read easily 



SAMUEL G. HOWE 303 

with the fincrers. The whole of the New Testa- 
ment was put into two books, though, if a Euro- 
pean press had been used, twelve volumes would 
have been required. Before long all sorts of 
books with raised letters were printed, and their 
price was brought within the means of the blind. 

Doctor Howe was not satisfied to make hap- 
pier the life of the blind and the deaf only. He 
found time to help any who were in distress or 
were unfortunate. He assisted Miss Dix in her 
work for the insane ; he helped Horace Mann in 
his school reforms ; he was a friend to the slaves 
and to the poor and to the sick everywhere. 
People so loved and trusted him that they were 
glad to assist him in all his plans ; but when he 
asked his acquaintances to help him start a school 
for idiot children, they thought that at last he 
had gone too far. 

"What do you think Howe is going to do 
now?" said one gentleman to another whom he 
met on the street. "He is cTointr to teach the 
idiots! Ha, ha, ha!" And everybody else 
laughed at the idea that there could be any 
chance for boys and girls who were born with de- 
fective brains. Doctor Howe declared that if a 
child had brain power to learn anything, h(^ had 
mind enough to learn more. He persisted in 
his efforts and finally succeeded in carrying out 



304 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

his plans, and a happier day began for another 
neglected class of children. 

• Would'st know him now ? behold him 

The Cadmus ot the blind, 
Giving the dumb lip language, 
The idiot clay a mind. 

"Walking the round of duty 
Serenely day by day, 
With the strong man's lieart of labor 
And the childhood's heart of play." 

When you have learned the entire story of 
Doctor Howe's unselfish life, you will want to 
read the whole of Whittier's poem "The Hero." 

Dr. Howe was not made at all sad by his in- 
timacy with sorrow and suffering, but ever kept 
his happy, boyish spirit that sometimes in his 
school days used to break out beyond all bounds. 
It is told that after he left college and was 
ashamed of some of the tricks he had played 
there, he called on the president, intending to 
apologize. The president did not receive him 
very cordially and sat down in a chair at some 
distance from his visitor. Howe moved, and 
the president pushed his chair further away say- 
ing, " Howe, I am afraid of you now. I'm afraid 
that there will be a torpedo under my chair be- 
fore I know it." 

When Doctor Howe died, Laura Bridgman 



SAMUEL G. HOWE 305 

spelled out into the hand of every one she met, 
"I have lost my best friend"; and the children 
in the idiot school said, " He will take care of 
the blind in Heaven. Won't he take care of us, 
too ?" Everyone who had ever been helped by 
Doctor Howe felt that he had lost his kindest 
friend. 

"Prisoners bewail him, blind men weep for him 
The dumb lament, idiots mourn, 
The insane cry out for him, 
And the slaves sit down in the dust." 



CHAPTER XXVI 

SAMUEL C. ARMSTRONG 
1839-1893 

** I ""HE War of Secession had not ended before 
the people of this country discovered that 
they had a great problem to solve. What was to 
be done with the four million freedmen ? For 
nearly two hundred and fifty years they and their 
fathers had been slaves. The men and the 
women were strong in body, but they were like 
children who had never been taught to care for 
themselves. They knew how to work, but they 
had worked only under the eye of an overseer 
who kept them to their tasks. Whatever they 
had earned belonged to their masters ; what they 
had to eat and to wear was given to them. They 
knew nothing about saving or economizing ; few 
had ever had any responsibility ; and most of 
them could neither read nor write. What should 
be done for these poor and ignorant people ? 

The negro said, " Teach me to read and to 
write " ; and he went to work to learn the mys- 
teries of the spelling-book and the copy-book. 



SAMUEL C. ARMSTRONG 



307 



After the Emancipation Proclamation, some 
negroes were enlisted into the army, and in their 
tents the spelling-book and the Bible were often 
found lying side by side with the musket and the 
knapsack. People from the North opened schools 
here and there 
in the South for 
the freedmen, but 
only one man was 
wise enough to see 
that at that time 
tiiey needed to be 
tauorht something 
besides the letters 
of the alphabet 
in order to make 
them useful citi- 
zens of the United 
States. And this 
man was Samuel 
C. Armstrong. 

General Armstrong was born in the Sandwich 
Islands, where his parents were missionaries. 
There he had seen how much more successful 
were t'^e schools which taught the natives the use 
of their hands as well as their brains, than were the 
schools which made use of books alone. He 
suggested to a society of Northern people that 




SAMUEL C. AKMSTKUNG 



308 AMERICAN TIONEERS 

they start a school in the Southland where the 
freedmen could be taught not only to earn their 
living after they were graduated, but to pay their 
own way while they were in the school — a school 
that should train them to go out into negro com- 
munities and teach not only the children, but 
the men and the women how to live industrious, 
honest, pure lives. 

People said, "Schools on this plan have been 
attempted before and have been given up. It 
won't pay." 

" Of course," replied General Armstrong, " it 
won't pay in a money way, but it will pay in a 
moral way. It will make them men and women 
as nothing else will. It is the only way to make 
them good Christians." 

A tract of land of one hundred and twenty-five 
acres was bought at Hampton, Virginia, and 
buildings were built. Close by this very place, 
two hundred and fifty years before, the first ship- 
load of slaves for America was landed. General 
Armstrong had had no expectation of being 
closely connected with the school. He had sug- 
gested the plan and supposed that others would 
work it out. One day he received a letter say- 
ing that the one who had been first chosen for 
principal had declined and asking him if he 
would take the position. He had just before 



SAMUEL C. ARMSTRONG 



309 



been offered a fine business opportunity ; but he 
answered" Yes," to the letter. "Till then," he 
said, " my own future had been blind. It had 
only been clear that there was a work to do for 
the ex-slaves, and where and how it should be 
done." He remained at the head of the school 
until his death, and to him is due the wonderful 




A COOKING CLASS Al HAMPTON INSTITUTE 

success not only of the Hampton Normal and 
Agricultural Institute, but of other schools in 
the South, which were started on the same plan. 
More negroes asked for admission to the new 
school than could be taken care of. Fathers and 
mothers who were too old to go to school them- 
selves were willing to m:;ke almost any sacrifice 
that their children mlHn ro. It was some time 



3 TO AMERICAN PIONEERS 

before accommodations were sufficient for the 
number of students ; but the boys cheerfully 
lived in tents during the cold winter weather, so 
anxious were they to learn the white man's ways. 
The boys were taught the proper care of horses 
and cattle, how to till the land so that it would 
raise the largest crops, how to make bricks, how 
to build houses and barns and to follow different 
trades. The girls were taught how to make 
clothes, to take care of the sick, and to cook in 
wholesome and economical ways. 

No shiftless or poor work was accepted. Gen- 
eral Armstrong continually kept before them 
that any work, no matter how humble, should be 
done thoroughly, with the whole heart. This 
idea of the dignity of labor was entirely new to 
the freedmen In the old days they had worked 
only because they had to work. Now the stu- 
dents were paid for what they did on the school 
farm and buildings, and in turn they paid for 
their tuition and for their clothes with the money 
that they earned. Thus they learned the use 
and the value of money, as they never could 
have learned it if the school and its advantages 
had been a free gift to them. 

Hampton Institute was started to help the 
negroes , but t^n years after its beginning, an- 
other down-trodden race asked for admission. 



SAMUEL C. ARMSTRONG 311 

There had been an insurrection of Indians in 
the West, and a company of chiefs were brought 
as prisoners to old Fort Marion, in St. Augus- 
tine, Florida. Colonel Pratt had charge of them, 
and he believed in keeping them busy. The 
grounds of the fort were stony and there was 
little that they could do there, so he found work 
for them in the town. At first people hesi- 
tated to employ them, but the Indians worked 
with such good-will and to such good purpose 
that they soon had all the work they could do. 

Colonel Pratt also taught them to read and 
write. He gave them pencils and paper and then, 
writing the alphabet on the rough walls of the 
fort, he pronounced the letters carefully and the 
Indians copied them. The ladies of the town 
also came to the fort to teach them ; and the 
Indians became so interested that when their 
days of captivity were over, twenty-two decided 
to stay in the East. "We have started on God's 
road now," said Lone Wolf, " because God's road 
is the same for the red man as for the white 
man." 

Colonel Pratt asked the Hampton Institute to 
open its doors to them, and they were admitted. 
The instructors wondered how the Indians and 
the negroes would get along together, but the 
red man went cheerfully to work and learned 



312 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



as well as the black man how to use the hoe and 
the plow, the hammer and the trowel. A year 
or two afterwards another company of Sioux In- 
dians arrived at Hampton, forty boys and nine 
girls. It had been hoped that there would be 
as many girls as boys; but the Indians were 
much more willing to send their boys than their 




THE BARN Al IIA.MI'ION I.NS 111 U IK 

girls, because in an Indian household, the women 
do all the work, and the girls were needed at 
home. 

The new comers were a wild-looking set. 
They were dressed in the native Indian costume, 
with bright-colored blankets thrown across their 
shoulders and their lonof hair braided in two 
braids and decorated with pi<ices of red flannel. 



SAMUEL C. ARMSTRONG 513 

They were dirty and repulsive. When they 
reached the school, they were met by the Indian 
students in their neat, close-fitting uniforms. 
Soon it was noticed that they were talking to- 
gether in the old sign language. When asked 
what they said, one replied, "I tell them, look 
at me : I will give you the road." 

The life at Hampton was so different from the 
old life in the Dakota Hills that it is not sur- 
prising that the Indians made mistakes and 
failed to see the meaning of some of the new 
things that they saw and heard. The story is 
told that one of the teachers had tried to show 
them how they could conquer some of the temp- 
tations that came to them. The next day one 
of the girls came to her crying, " I victory ! I 
victory ! Louisa Bullhead got mad with me. 
She my temptation. I fight her ! 1 victory ! " 

As the days went by they won other victories 
than this. The boys learned how to conquer 
their old habits of idleness and sloth, and to ac- 
custom their hands to other tools than the rifle 
and the knife. The girls overcame their indif- 
ference to dirt and filth. Their dull Indian faces 
grew brighter as their minds became filled with 
noble thoughts, and they took pride in doing 
even simple work well. 

The Dakota Indians had not been at the school 



314 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

long before a company of chiefs came on to 
Hampton to see the work that their children 
were doing. They were especially anxious to 
see the progress that Ara-hotch-kish, the son of 
their second chief Hard Horn, who had not been 
able to come with them, had made. They were 
taken to the paint shop where Ara-hotch-kish 
was painting pails. He finished the pail he was 
painting and took up another. If the chiefs 
pressed so closely as to interfere with his work, 
he calmly pushed them away. Once in a while 
he glanced at them from the corners of his eyes ; 
but he paid no further attention to them, though 
it was evident that he thoroughly enjoyed let- 
ting the old chiefs see that he could do some- 
thing that they could not do. 

It was not long before Indian boys and girls 
did not have to be coaxed to go east to school. 
Hampton could not take care of them all, so the 
Government established a school for them at Car- 
lisle, Pennsylvania, and placed Colonel Pratt at 
its head. 

Let us now see how the negroes put into prac- 
tice what they learned at Hampton. The story 
of the life of one of its most famous grraduates 
will show what the race can do. Not long after 
the school was started, a negro boy named Booker 
T. Washington arrived at Hampton. He had 



SAMUEL C. ARMSTRONG 



315 



come all the way from West Virginia. So long 
as his money lasted, he rode on the train ; when 
it v/as gone, he walked. He had slept anywhere 
he could find a shelter and was so dirty that the 
teachers hesitated to take him in. It seemed as 
though there could 
be no good in him. 
As a test he was given 
a room to clean. He 
swept the floor three 
times and dusted it 
four times. Not a 
speck of dust could be 
found by the teacher 
after the most care- 
ful search, and she 
said, " I guess you 
will do to enter this 
institution." 

We can hardly im- 
agine the change his 
new life was to him. He had never seen a bath- 
tub or a tooth-brush and had never slept in a bed 
with sheets. The first night he went to bed with 
both sheets over him ; the second, with both under 
him ; but by the third night he slept with the 
sheets in their proper places. Washington 
learned quickly and made rapid progress. He 




BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 



3i6 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



learned a great deal from books and from the 
industries of the school, but most of all was he 
influenced by the beautiful character of General 
Armstronof. He resolved that in his turn he 
would do all that he could for his race. After 
his graduation he remained six years at Hampton 



f 


SSfe}39B*^.H 


3H^BEtiii[^^B^HBLi^u7'=^ MB^BHBBw 



fllArKI. UK lUSKEGKK .NORMAL AM) INUU.STKIAL CUl.l.KlW', 



as a teacher. Then one day General Armstrong 
received a letter asking if he could recommend a 
man to start a school for negroes in Alabama. 
General Armstrong replied that he did not know 
of any white man that would do, but if they were 
willing to try a colored man, he had one that he 
could recommend. The school authorities trusted 



SAMUEL C. ARMSTRONG 317 

in the wisdom of General Armstrong, and Booker 
Washiington was placed at the head of the new 
school. Under his leadership Tuskegee has be- 
come famous, and its pupils in their turn are go- 
ing out to make the lives of their people better 
and brigliter. 

It is not possible for all black men to be Booker 
Washingtons any more than it is possible for all 
white men to be General Armstroncrs. But in 
their different ways most of the graduates of 
Hampton and of the other colored schools are 
doing what they can to help their race. In one 
of the towns of Alabama is a colored storekeeper. 
He has accumulated considerable property, but 
every year he raises a pig as an object lesson for 
the farmers around him. " I can't start a school 
here," he said. " I tried to and could not ; but 
if I can't do that, I can at least teach the farmers 
how to raise hogrs as I learned to raise them." 

When General Armstrong died, he was buried 
in the school graveyard, " in the next place," as 
was his wish. No sermon praising his deeds was 
preached, and only a granite bowlder marks his 
grave. He needed no memorial of bronze or of 
marble, for his monument was the useful lives of 
thousands of negro and Indian men and women. 
" It pays to follow one's best light," he said, " to 
put God and country first, ourselves afterward." 



PIONEERS OF REFORM 

Philanthropy 
CHAPTER XXVII 

JOHN ELIOT 
1 604- 1 690 

'T~^HE good ship Lyon came to anchor in Boston 
-■■ harbor on November 3, 1631. She brought 
a large company of Puritans to join those already 
here ; and among them a young clergyman, 
lately from his studies in Cambridge, England. 

John Eliot was a learned and godly man. The 
first year he was here, he preached in the little 
church on State Street in Boston, and the people 
wished him to stay with them as assistant to 
their pastor ; but many of his friends had settled 
at Roxbury, and he had promised to become their 
minister. He was installed pastor of the church 
in Roxbury and served it for fifty-eight years, 
until his death. He was a very active man, al- 
ways interesting himself in the well-being of his 



JOHN ELIOT 



319 



church and people. But the great work of his 
Hfe was not with his church or with the people 
of Roxbury, but with the Indians of Massachu- 
setts. He had many helpers, but his own work 
among them was far beyond that of any other 
person. 

The first seal of the Massachusetts colony 




From the painting by CErtcl 

JOHN ELIOT PREACHING TO THE INDIANS 

was the figure of an Indian with a bow in one 
hand and an arrow in the other, and the motto, 
" Come over and help us." This motto remained 
upon the seal of the colony for well-nigh a cen- 
tury and a half. Then when Massachusetts pro- 
posed to break away from the government of 
Great Britain, the old legend was dropped, and 
the line which Algernon Sidney had written in 



320 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

the autograph book of the King of Denmark 
was put in its place : " She " (that is, the State) 
" seeks quiet peace by the sword under liberty." 

When Sidney, who was a great English pa- 
triot and lover of liberty, wrote that motto, the 
French ambassador took offense. He claimed 
that it was a fling at monarchy and cut it out of 
the king's book. A few years before the Revo- 
lution, Thomas HoUis, another English patriot, 
published a new edition of Sidney's works and 
under the frontispiece opposite the title page 
told the story of the motto and its fate in the 
king's book. Hollis sent a copy to the library 
of Harvard College and there a little later the 
patriots of Massachusetts, John Hancock, Samuel 
Adams, John Adams, and the others saw it. At 
once they chose it for the new motto of the State 
of Massachusetts. So, to-day, the State seal 
still shows the Indian with his long bow, but 
the motto is Ense petit placidmn, sub libertate, 
quictem, or " She seeks quiet peace by the sword 
under liberty." 

The old colonial motto " Come over and help 
us," shows that the early settlers of Massachu- 
setts intended to do missionary work among the 
Indians. With the very first Boston emigrants 
came four ministers, who planned not only to 
preach the gospel to the English settlers but also 



JOHN ELIOT 321 

"to Wynne the natives to the Christian faith." 
John EHot, more than any other, labored among 
the Indians early and late, by summer and by 



W abccHdefgh i j kfmoj 
t ^^ cpqtrt( Qy>3Lyz» S 

' ♦ABChOEfGHIKLMS: 

S HOPQRJTUV W 21 

i ^ XY^ $: 

^ ^ §icd ifiii i^im^^p.'^ 

(. 2 ■ * 

/■ ■ ^ * ■ ^ 

( ;g NeefoatoDvratfii, «* 

f ^'^ ■ ■ • ^T 

A PAGE OF EI.IOl'S " INDIAN PRIMER," PRINTED AT CAMBRIDGE, 
MASSACHUSETTS, IN 1669 

winter, year after year, throughout his long life. 

He quickly learned their language, spent much 

time in their wigwams, told them of God and of 

Christ, and tried to help them lead pure lives. 
21 



322 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

The sons of the forest would gather around him 
as though he were their father, and often puz- 
zled him by their questions. "What is a spirit? " 
they would ask. "Can the soul be inclosed in 
iron so that it cannot escape?" "Shall I know 
you in Heaven ? " " Our little children have 
not sinned ; whither do they go when they die ? " 
" In Heaven, do they dwell in houses, and what 
do they do?" "When you choose magistrates, 
how do you know who are good men, who can 
be trusted to do right ? " 

Eliot never tired of answering their many 
queries and instructing them in the way they 
should serve God by a better way of living. He 
taught the women to spin and the men to plant, 
to hoe, and to harvest ; and he formed among 
them praying bands, who should worship the 
only living and true God, and help each other. 
His love for them and his ceaseless efforts to 
benefit them won for him all hearts whether in 
the houses of the white men or the " smoky 
cells" of the natives. It was in 1660 that John 
Thorowgood, an English writer, first of all called 
him " The Apostle to the Indians." The name 
was so appropriate that he has been so called 
to this day, and no other man has received the 
tide. 

Eliot's " praying bands " were formed in seven 



JOHN ELIOT 323 

towns where Indians lived, around Boston, and 
in Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, along the 
shores of Cape Cod, and indeed toward the 
west, among the Nipmucks in Dudley, Oxford, 
and Uxbridge. Two Indians from Martha's 
Vineyard took the entire course of study at 
Harvard College. One was graduated and re- 
ceived his diploma, but the other was drowned 
just before Commencement came. 

About the year 1650 Eliot formed an Indian 
church at a place now known as South Natick, 
but his greatest work for the red man was his 
translation of the entire Bible into the Indian 
language. This book was printed at Cambridge 
and was the first Bible published in America. 

While Eliot was at work on his translation, he 
came to the fifth chapter of Judges, verse twenty- 
eight. This reads, " The mother of Sisera looked 
out of a window and cried through a lattice." 
He knew of no Indian term for " lattice," so he 
asked several natives for the right word. They 
did not seem to understand what he meant 
though he carefully explained that a lattice was 
a kind of wicker-work or netting. Finally an old 
Indian gave him a long unpronounceable word ; 
and, as he could not do better, Eliot put it down. 
Long afterwards, when he had become more fa- 
miliar with the Indian tongue, and was revising 



324 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



^^;i^I^^i^^-i^-^->^-^>^^^'^>^i>^^^ii^^?.^?-?t?l»M 



WUNNEETITANATAMU'E Di 

UP-BIBLUM GOD I 

NANEESWE p; 

NUKKONC testament! 

KAH WONK ig 

WUSKU TESTAMENT. | 



••a! 



his work before giving it to the printer, he was 
surprised and amused to find that the word 

meant an eel-pot ! 
The Indian eel-pot 
was a sort of 
double basket, wo- 
ven of willows and 
so arranged that 
eels could swim in, 
but, once in, could 
not get out again. 

John Eliot, noble 
man, unselfish, all 
his life living 
the "golden rule" ! 
Most men would 
have thought that 
the work of a large 
flourishing church 
like his was enough 
for any pastor, but 

Translated : "The Whole Holy Bible of God, Up wiS wilUno" llsO 
both Old Testament and also New Testament. "^ 

This turned [into Indian] by the Servant of tO eudurC mucll SUf- 

Christ who is called John Eliot. Cambridge : . . . 

Printed by Samuel Green and Marmaduke fcrmg and maUy 
Johnson, i66^ " • .• •/ i 

privations it he 
might better the life of one red man of the 
forest. When he died, thousands rose up and 
called him blessed. A little while before his 



nob afoowcIvC 

JOHN ELIOT- 



Jg PriotaiooptuOipc S-mial Cr,i„ kjh M^mMf JM-- ,|JJ 



'ii'^fmmm^mwmmm%tat 



From "Early Bibles of America^" by JoIdi 

Wright^ D.D. Thovias Whittaker 

INDIAN TITLE PAGE OF THE ELIOT 

BIBLE OF 1663 



JOHN ELIOT 325 

death at the great age of four score and six, 
some one inquired of him how he was, and he 
replied, " Alas, I have lost everything ; my 
understanding leaves me ; my memory fails ; 
my utterance has gone ; but, I thank God, my 
charity holds out still ; I find that rather grows 
than fails." His last words were " Welcome, 

joy-" 

" His youth was innocent ; his riper age 

Marked with some act of goodness, every day ; 
And watched by eyes that loved him, calm and sage, 

Faded his last declining years away. 
Cheerful he gave his being up, and went 
To share the holy rest that waits a life well spent." 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

PETER CARTWRIGHT 
1785-1872 

TN the early pioneer days in the West, only the 
larger villages had churches and pastors. 
The frontiersmen were too widely scattered to 
gather together every Sunday and were often 
too poor to pay the salary of a settled preacher. 
Therefore they were dependent upon the occa- 
sional visits of a travelinor circuit-rider for their 
sermons, their funeral services, and their wed- 
dings. A circuit-rider's parish often extended 
over a distance of five hundred miles. He rode 
his rounds on horseback and held meetings here 
and there, sometimes in a little log church, more 
often in a barn or a house, most frequently in 
the open air with a stump for a pulpit. His 
work finished in one place, he rode on to the 
next settlement, returning again in three, four, 
five, or six weeks, according to the time it took 
to go the rounds. 

These circuit preachers were earnest men who 
did much hard work and got very little pay. 



PETER CARTWRTGHT 



327 



Their whole salary for a year was frequently but 
forty dollars, which would not buy many books 
or luxuries. In fact some of them were men of 
little education and were rough in speech and 
manners. They dressed in homespun woven 
and made into garments for them, frequently by 
the women of their 
parishes. They 

slept at any house 
that would open 
its doors to them 
or else camped in 
the open air. They 
had to encounter 
heat, cold, storms, 
swollen rivers, and, 
worst of all, des- 
perate men. There- 
fore, it was nec- 
essary that they 
should be strong in 

body, quick in wit, and of great piety and zeal. 
One of the most noted of these preachers was 
Peter Cartwrig-ht. He rode the circuit for over 
fifty years and in that time preached fourteen 
thousand, six hundred sermons. His first circuit 
was in Kentucky and Tennessee. The settle- 
ments were far apart, and it took him four weeks 




PETER CARTVVRIGHT 



328 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

to complete his circuit. Then he had two days' 
rest before he began his rides again. Cartwright 
was at this time under twenty years of age, and 
much of his early success was due to his youth. 
Wherever he held a meeting, the people would 
flock to hear "the Kentucky boy." 

It was at the close of one of his first appoint- 
ments that he started back toward his father's 
home. He had been gone three years and was 
in a sorry state. His clothes were patched and 
torn ; his horse was blind ; his saddle was nearly 
worn out ; his bridle was ready to drop to pieces 
at any moment. He had but seventy-five cents 
in his pocket, and five hundred miles to travel. 
" No use to parley about it," he said. " Go on I 
must, or do worse." 

He decided to go as far as he could with the 
money he had, then stop and work awhile and 
travel on agfain. He had not ridden far before 
he met a woman he knew. " How are you off 
for money.?" she asked. "I expect you have 
received but little in this circuit." 

" I have just seventy-five cents," he replied. 

She asked him to her house ; but when he re- 
fused her invitation, she took out a dollar and 
gave it to him. It was all the money she had 
with her. 

The dollar and seventy-five cents lasted until 



PETER CARTW RIGHT 329 

he reached the Ohio River. He had nothing 
with which to pay his fare across and was about 
to ask the ferryman to trust him for the twenty- 
five cents, when Colonel Shelby, his father's 
neighbor, rode up. 

" Peter, is that you?" he cried. 

"Yes, Moses, what little is left of me." 

" Well, from your appearance, you must have 
seen hard times. Are you trying to get home ?" 

" Yes." 

"How are you off for money, Peter?" the 
Colonel then asked. 

" Moses, I have not a cent in the world." 

" Well, here are three dollars, and I will give 
you a bill of the road and a letter of introduction 
till you get into the barrens at Pilot Knob." 

Cartwright thankfully accepted the Colonel's 
help and rode on until he passed Pilot Knob, 
and his money was again gone. Night came on, 
and it was necessary for him to seek shelter at 
an inn. He told the landlord that he had been 
from home three years and that his money was 
gone, but he offered him the few books that he 
had in his saddle-bags and an old watch. The 
man told him to " light and be easy " and would 
take neither watch nor books. 

When Cartwright reached home his father 
gave him a new suit, a fresh horse and harness, 



330 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

and forty dollars. He was now ready for his 
next appointment. 

Bishop Asbury once gave him the circuit that 
included the town of Marietta in Ohio. Cart- 
wright did not want to go to Marietta. It had 
a considerable population ; the people had come 
from New England, and their customs were dif- 
ferent from those of the Kentucky pioneers. 
He was afraid of " the Yankees," as he called 
them, because he had heard that they lived en- 
tirely on pumpkins, molasses, fat meat, and 
black tea ; that they could not bear long sermons, 
and that they were always criticizing " us poor 
backwoods preachers." 

Cartwright went to Bishop Asbury and begged 
him with tears to put some one else in his place 
and let him go. 

The bishop took him in his arms and said, 
" No, my son. Go, in the name of the Lord. It 
will make a man of you." 

" Ah," Cartwright thought, " if this is the way 
to make men, I do not want to be a man." But 
he took his circuit. 

In his autobiography Cartwright wrote, "If 
ever I had hard times it surely was this year." 
He found Marietta a good school, however, for he 
was obliged to study his Bible more thoroughly 
than ever before in order to hold his own in his 



PETER CARTWRIGHT 331 

discussions with the people. " I had to battle or 
run," he said ; and as he never hesitated to do his 
part in any encounter, he did not run. 

Cartwright made use of every opportunity to 
preach a sermon ; and though many of his methods 
were peculiar and could never have been used in 
a more civilized country, he met with wonderful 
success in his work and helped thousands of people 
to lead better lives. One evening, according to 
his own story, he rode up to an inn and asked for 
accommodations for the night. He was told that 
there was to be a dance there, and that probably 
he would not find it a pleasant place to stay. He 
decided to remain and later on went into the dance 
hall. A young woman seeing the stranger by the 
door went up to him and asked him to dance. 
Cartwright quickly determined to try an experi- 
ment. He took her by the hand and walked into 
the center of the room. The negro musician im- 
mediately began to tune up his violin, but Cart- 
wrip-ht told him to wait. He then said that he 
never took any important step without asking 
God's blessing He knelt in the center of the 
floor and compelled his partner to kneel with him. 
The company was -surprised, to say the least. 
The negro fled to the kitchen crying, " What de 
matter ? What is dat mean ? " Cartwright offered 
his prayer and preached his sermon, and it resulted 



332 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



in his forming a church there with thirty-two 
members. 

In that rough time and place the rowdies fre- 
quently tried to break up the camp-meetings, and 
the preachers were often obliged to meet them in 




A CAMI'-AIEKTING GROUND OF 1 HE WEST 

Open battle with sticks and staves. A central place 
was chosen for a camp-meeting ; and the people 
for miles around came in their wagons, pitched 
their tents, and remained several days. Meet- 
ings were carried on night and day by different 
preachers. At one of these camp-meetings the 



PETER CARTWRIGHT 333 

leaders had had an unusually rough time, but had 
succeeded in overcoming their tormentors. After 
quiet had been gained, Cartwright said to one of 
the other preachers, " I feel a clear conscience 
to preach, for under the circumstances we have 
done right. Now I ask you to let me preach." 

" Do," the men replied, " for there is no other 
man on the ground that can do it." 

The camp was lighted, the trumpet blown, the 
people collected, and Cartwright preached as 
though he had never been engaged in a fight in 
his life. 

He was clearly the favorite with the younger 
people as one other story will show. Another 
camp-meeting had been much disturbed by a com- 
pany of boys. Cartwright went back and told 
them that they ought to hear the preacher. 

" Oh ! if it were you we would gladly hear you," 
they cried. 

" Boys, do you really want to hear me ? " he 
asked. 

"Yes, we do," and the answer came with an 
enthusiasm that showed they meant what they 
said. 

" Well, if you do, go and gather all those in- 
attentive groups and come to the grove two hun- 
dred yards south, and I will preach to you." 

Two or three hundred collected and sat down 



334 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

in the shade. Cartwright mounted a stump and 
preached an hour or more, and they listened 
attentively. 

When Cartwright was an old man, he was sent 
from Illinois to a general conference of the 
Methodist Church at Boston. His fame had 
reached even to the East, and people were anx- 
ious to hear the pioneer preacher of the West. 
He received an invitation to preach one Sunday 
morning in a Boston church. He realized that 
Eastern congregations were accustomed to very 
different addresses from those that would interest 
a backwoods audience. So he made careful prep- 
arations and preached what he thought was his 
best sermon in a grave and dignified manner. Of 
course he made a complete failure. He was not 
himself, and it was the real Peter Cartwright that 
the Boston people wished to hear. They were 
disappointed and did not hesitate to say so. 

" Is this Peter Cartwright of Illinois, the old 
western pioneer?" some one asked after the 
service. 

" Yes, I am the very man." 

" Well, brother, we are much disappointed. 
You have fallen much under our expectations. 
We expected to hear a much greater sermon 
than you have preached to-day." 

" How can it be helped, brother ? " he replied. 



PETER CARTWRIGHT 335 

" I did as well as I could and was nearly at the 
top of my speed." 

The next time he was asked to preach, he pre- 
pared his sermon with even greater care and de- 
livered it in the same quiet way. Again he failed 
to interest the people and was so hurt and dis- 
couraged that he did not want to preach again 
in Boston. "Your good people have not got 
enough sense to know a good sermon when they 
hear it," he said. 

When he was invited to preach at the Seamen's 
Bethel, its pastor said, "Why don't you take off 
your coat and roll up your sleeves and give it to 
them in true Western style?" 

" If you will let me preach as we do in the 
West, I have no objection to preaching to your 
congregation or anywhere in Boston," he replied. 

That night Cartwright gave his sermon as 
though he were speaking to one of his old con- 
gregations in the woods. This time his audience 
was not disappointed in him; and after that, 
wherever he spoke, the room was filled to over- 
flowing. 

The old pioneer days have long since passed 
away in Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, 
and Ohio. To-day Peter Cartwright would be 
as much out of place there as he was fifty years 
ago in Boston. In fact long before he died the 



336 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



fine churches and the pipe organs and the edu- 
cated ministers that were rapidly increasing in 
the West made him heart-sick. His methods 
and his preaching were fitted only for the rough 
pioneer life of the time. He gave his people 
what they wanted and served them faithfully 
through a long, busy life. 



(^ •- 4:d^ea;<2>*i5f 




Fort Dearborn, the Beginning of Chicago, Illinois, in 1810 



CHAPTER XXIX 

DOROTHEA LYNDE DIX 
1 805-1 887 

TN all past ages the weak, the lame, the blind, 
the insane were supposed to be beyond cure 
or even help. Only within recent years have 
the stronor tried to better the condition of those 
they once despised. As the teachings of Christ 
have been more thoroughly understood and more 
closely followed, a brighter day has dawned for 
the unfortunate and the oppressed. The story 
of the education of Laura Bridgman urged 
forward all lovers of mankind to renew their ef- 
forts to help other sufferers. The reformation 
and the useful lives of such men as John B. 
Gough and Jerry McAuley encouraged many to 
make an earnest effort to break their bonds of 
drunkenness and sin. 

In former days insane people were too often 
judged to be under the control of Satan, and any 
effort to lessen their sufferings or to improve 
their condition seemed the same as helping the 
evil one. In England, more than a century ago, 



338 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



the Society of Friends had estabHshed an insti- 
tution called " The Retreat," which was very 
successful in its care of the insane. In this coun- 
try, as early as 1750, Benjamin Franklin and 
others added a department for these unfortunate 
people in the new Pennsylvania Hospital ; but 

very little was done 
for their benefit, 
either in this coun- 
try or in Europe 
until DorotheaDix, 
withstrong, unyield- 
ing purpose began 
her heroic work. It 
was a great under- 
taking, but she 
was in every way 
fitted for the ser- 
vice. Most persons 
would have been 
overcome by the 
greatness of the task and the many discourage- 
ments ; but whatever Miss Dix fairly began, 
indeed what she once fully decided upon, was 
sure to be a success. It could not be otherwise. 
Dorothea Dix, from early childhood, had seen 
the hard side of life. Her younger years were 
far from happy. From the time she was twelve, 




DOROTHEA LYNDE DIX 



DOROTHEA LYNDE DIX 339 

her home was with her grandparents in Boston. 
They were well-to-do and highly respectable, yet 
they starved her heart and stunted her imagina- 
tion. Her home was a grim and joyless one; 
and she herself said later in life, " I never knew 
childhood." Yet it would seem that the very 
hardness of her early life only fitted her for her 
life-work. She took up the problem of bettering 
the condition of the more unfortunate portion of 
our race, with a will and a determination that 
would stop at no denial and yield to no 
obstacle. 

After some years of successful teaching and 
after two years of travel in the West Indies and 
in Europe, her mind was opened to the neglect 
and the sufferings of the weak-minded and the 
insane. Indeed, people to-day can scarcely be- 
lieve the conditions which she found to exist in 
all the states of our country as well as in Europe. 
In the hospitals of Great Britain the patients 
were confined in cells with no floors but the 
earth, with no windows, and with no ventilation. 
The straw upon which they slept was changed 
once a week and at this time only were the occu- 
pants taken out into the open air. They received 
very little medical treatment, and what they did 
have was the opposite of what should have been 
given them. Instead of being strengthened by 



340 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



proper food and care, they were bled regularly 
once a month and weakened by medicines. 
" This has been the practice," said a physician, 




" for long years before my 
time, and I do not know of 
any better way." 

Miss Dix visited the pris- 
ons, the hospitals, and the insane retreats in 
every state this side of the Rocky Mountains, 
and what she found everywhere was appalling: 
" Insane persons confined in cages, closets, eel- 



DOROTHEA LYNDE DIX 34I 

lars, Stalls, pens ; chained, naked, beaten with 
rods, and lashed into obedience." 

In one case an insane man had been confined 
for years in a dungeon or cell " from six to eight 
feet square, built entirely of stone — sides, roof, 
and floor," with no light, no fresh air, no heat 
even in winter, and no ventilation. This is only 
a single example of what Miss Dix found here 
and there in all parts of the country, and the 
story is too dreadful to repeat. Let us draw a 
veil over the sad picture and follow Miss Dix to 
see what success she met in chanofinyf the treat- 
ment of the insane. 

In the city of Providence there was a small 
asylum that gave to its patients wise and kind 
care, but it was too overcrowded to do the work 
it wished to do. Miss Dix determined to solicit 
funds from a Rhode Island merchant of large 
means, to enlarge the buildings. Like many 
men absorbed in the pursuit of wealth, he had 
acquired so great a passion for money getting 
that it was well-nigh impossible to persuade him 
to give away a single dollar. Every one to whom 
she made known her plan smiled, and some re- 
minded her that she might as well try to get 
"milk out of a stone." However, she called at 
the house of the close-fisted millionaire and had 
an interview with him. 



342 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

Through force of habit, he sought to put her 
off by talking about the weather and any topic 
but that for which she had come. Miss Dix 
kept her good humor, until at last she rose from 
her chair and with "commanding dignity" said, 
" Mr. Blank, I wish you to hear what I have to 
say. I wish to bring before you certain facts, 
involving terrible suffering to your fellow-crea- 
tures all around you — suffering which you can 
relieve. My duty will end when I have done 
this, and with you will then rest the responsibil- 
ity." Then she told, with a feeling that she 
could hardly control, the pathetic story of what 
she had seen with her own eyes in the state of 
Rhode Island — case after case of most inhuman 
cruelty like that related above. 

He listened spell-bound till she ended and 
then said abruptly, " Miss Dix, what do you 
want me to do ?" 

"Sir, I want you to give fifty thousand dollars 
toward the enlargement of the insane hospital in 
your city." 

" Madam, I'll do it !" was the answer. 

This was Miss Dix's second victory. The 
first had been the securing from the Mas- 
sachusetts legislature two hundred thousand 
dollars for the hospital for the insane at Wor- 
cester, 



DOROTHEA LYNDE DIX 343 

Thus was begun, not much more than sixty 
years ago, a movement which has changed the 
whole opinion of the people of our country, and 
indeed of the countries of Europe, as to the con- 
dition and the needs of the unfortunate insane. 
All has not been done for them that is needed, 
but a complete change has been made in their 
treatment. 

Time will fail to tell of the g-reat work done 
by Miss Dix for the insane and for criminals as 
well, in our own country and in Europe. She 
was so eager and so enthusiastic that people 
could not resist her appeals for help. They 
opened their hearts and their purses. During 
the ten years between 1850 and i860 she prob- 
ably obtained more money as gifts for purely 
benevolent purposes than any other person ever 
secured, in the Old World or the New. Even 
the children in the homes where she visited gave 
their toys to the poor children that Miss Dix 
was trying to help. 

When the War of Secession broke out. Miss 
Dix at once offered her services to the Secretary 
of War as a nurse ; and during those terrible 
four years of bloody strife and fierce battles, she 
spent her time in improving the hospitals and 
relieving the sufferings of thousands upon thou- 
sands of the sick and the wounded. 



344 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



When the war was over and peace once more 
spread her white wings over our broad country, 
Miss Dix set herself to work to raise the funds 
to build a monument in memory of the six thou- 
sand soldiers who were buried in the National 

Cemetery near 



Fortress Mon- 
roe. Her heart 
had been so 
touched by the 
heroism of the 
soldiers and their 
patience when 
sick and suffer- 
ing, that she was 
determined that 
the stone for 
this monument 
should be the 
best that could 
be obtained. She 
visited quarry 
after quarry until 




CARING FOR THE WOUNDED ON THE 
HATTLEFIELD 



she found a granite that was hard enough and 
beautiful enough to satisfy her. To-day in that 
National Cemetery, under the shade of cedars and 
magnolias, more than twelve thousand Union 
soldiers sleep, while the monument, seventy-five 



DOROTHEA LYNDE DIX 345 

feet in height, stands guard by night and by day. 
" It promises to stand for centuries unless an 
earthquake should shake it down," she said when 
it was lifted to its place. 

Our heroine now took up again her hospital 
service and for years carried on her Christ-like 
work, especially in the southern states. She 
succeeded in getting aid from the legislatures of 
thirteen states for state lunatic asylums. She 
was the direct means of founding, or enlarging, 
thirty-two hospitals including two entirely new 
asylums at Halifax and at St. John. Then by 
her influence in her last days, there were added 
to this list two more in far-away Japan, with 
others still to follow. When the great Chicago 
and Boston fires came, she collected large sums 
of money from her friends, and quietly and with 
good judgment searched out for herself where 
help was most needed to lessen the wide-spread 
distress. 

At length, when more than fourscore years 
old, and ill and worn out with her work, she was 
invited to make her home in the Asylum in 
Trenton, New Jersey, the first of the many insti- 
tutions founded by her. There, for five years 
she lingered, cheered by the letters and visits of 
many devoted friends. She died on July 19th, 
1887, and was buried in Mount Auburn Ceme- 



34^ 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



tery at Cambridge, Massachusetts. One who 
witnessed her death and burial wrote as follows : 
"Thus has died and been laid to rest in the 
most quiet and unostentatious way the most 
useful and distinoruished woman America has 
yet produced." 




The Old Jail in New Yorl< City 



CHAPTER XXX 

JOHN BARTHOLOMEW GOUGH 
1817-1886 

nr^HE famous temperance lecturer, John B, 
Gough, in the story of his Hfe tells us the 
following incident, which is here somewhat short- 
ened : " On the last Sunday evening of October, 
1842, I wandered out into the streets thinking of 
my lonely and friendless condition. My frame 
was much weakened by long indulgence in alco- 
holic liquors, and was little fitted to bear the 
cold of winter. 

" As I shuffled along the sidewalk, some one 
tapped me on the shoulder. It was the first 
touch of kindness which I had known for months. 
He said, * Mr. Gough, I believe.' 

' That is my name.' I replied. 

' You have been drinking, to-day.' 

' Yes, sir, I have.' 

' Why do you not sign the pledge ?' 

I considered for a moment or two, and then 
informed the strange friend that I had no hope 
of ever becoming a sober man ; that I was with- 



348 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

out a single friend in the world who cared for 
me or what became of me ; that I fully expected 
to die soon, — I cared not how soon, or whether 
I died drunk or sober ; and in fact that I was in 
a condition of utter despair. 

" The stranger regarded me with a kind look, 

took me by the 
arm and asked me 
how I should like 
to be as I once 
was, respectable 
and esteemed, well 
clad, and sitting 
as I used to, in a 
place of worship, 
enabled to meet 
my friends as in 
old times — in fact 
become a useful 
member of society. 
" ' Oh,' I replied, 
•I should like all 

JOHN li. GOUGII 

these things well 
enough ; but such a change cannot be pos- 
sible.' 

" ' Only sign our pledge and I will warrant that 
it will be so. Sign it, and I will introduce you 
myself to good friends, who will feel an interest 




JOHN BARTHOLOMEW GOUGH 349 

in your welfare and take pleasure in helping you 
to keep your promise. Only, Mr. Gough, sign 
the pledge, and all will be as I have said , aye, 
and more too.' 

" Oh, how pleasantly fell those words of kind- 
ness and promise on my crushed and bruised 
heart ! A chord had been touched which vibrated 
to the tone of love. Hope dawned, and I began 
to think that such things as my friend promised 
me might come to pass. 

" ' Well,' I said, ' I will do it.' 

" ' When ? ' he asked. 

" ' I cannot do it to-night, for I imtsf have 
more drink presently ; but I certainly will to- 
morrow night.' 

" ' We have a temperance meeting to-morrow 
evening, will you sign it there?' 

'"I will.' 

" ' That is right,' he said, grasping my hand. 
' I will be there to see you.' 

"'You shall,' I remarked, and we parted." 

That night Gough drank till he was very 
drunk, staggered home, threw himself upon his 
bed and lay in a stupor until morning. He de- 
scribes in a most pathetic manner his condition 
the next day, but tells us that when evening came 
he attended the temperance meeting and signed 
the pledge, in the presence of a large company. 



350 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

" In my palsied hand I with difficulty grasped 
the pen ; and, in characters almost as crooked as 
those of old Stephen Hopkins on the Declara- 
tion of Independence, I signed the total absti- 
nence pledge and resolved to free myself from, 
the inexorable tyrant — rum." 

Here was the turning point in the life of the 
man. He had been a confirmed drunkard, tlis 
young wife and child had died in poverty, after 
which his downward career had been rapid. Now 
there was a chance for a better life. Would he 
succeed in reaching it ? or would he fall back 
again as so many had done before him ? 

John Bartholomew Gough was a native of 
Kent County, England, His father was a pri- 
vate soldier in the British army. His mother 
was a good woman who tried to start her boy 
on the road to industry and an honorable life. 
When he was twelve years of age, he was sent 
over to America with a family of English emi- 
grants. At fourteen he drifted to New York 
City. He apprenticed himself to learn the book- 
binder's trade and earned two dollars and fifty 
cents a week, two dollars of which he paid for 
his board. Later he sent for his mother and sis- 
ter to come from England to live with him. 
Then in the cold winter, when business was dull, 
the boy and his sister lost their positions. The 



JOHN BARTHOLOMEW GOUGH 35 I 

family moved into a garret. They had neither 
food nor fuel for many days. 

His mother became ill ; and in desperation one 
day the boy rushed out, pawned his coat, and 
bought a little meat and broth for her. But the 
poor mother died and was buried in a pauper's 
grave. Then began his downfall. Yielding to 
the influence of bad company, for more than nine 
years he went from bad to worse. 

Drunkenness is a terrible vice, and finally be- 
comes a disease from which recovery is extremely 
difficult. But although he had been a confirmed 
drunkard, Mr. Gough conquered his craving for 
drink and became a man. After signing the 
pledge, he was filled with a burning desire to 
help other drinking men to reform. A bitter 
experience, however, was before him. Deceived 
by others and led into temptation, twice Mr. 
Gough yielded and fell ; but he quickly recov- 
ered himself, acknowledged his fall, and started 
anew. 

Then began a remarkable career of honor and 
usefulness. John B. Gough became the most 
popular orator of his age and the greatest tem- 
perance lecturer the world has ever seen. For 
nearly forty years he was busy, early and late, 
never sparing himself in his endeavors to ad- 
vance the cause of temperance in this country 



352 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

and the British Isles. He was honored and loved 
by all. 

His mind was always alive to the humorous, 
and he enlivened his lectures with amusing inci- 
dents to illustrate the point he wished to make. 
At one time he mentioned the word " compro- 
mise." He said that many medical men were 
coming up over all England with compromises. 
He remarked, " I don't like compromises. Com- 
promises remind me of a story that a negro once 
told." Then in his inimitable way he told how 
one negro met another and said, " Sambo, does 
you know dat I was sorely tempted t'oder night? 
Yes, sir, I was sorely tempted ; but bress de Lord 
I 'stood de temptation." 

" Why, how was dat ?" said Sambo. 

" Well, you know, Misser Jonsing's shoe store. 
I was in dere t'oder evening an' I look up on de 
shelf an' dere stood a new pair of boots, dat would 
jest fit me — I knowed — jest mysize, number four- 
teen — jest my size, an' my old boots all wore out 
at de side and de bottoms all frew, an' I needed 
a new pair dreffuUy. Jess den, Misser Jonsing 
went out an' left me dere all alone. Den de debel 
said, * Did you eber see such a nice pair ob boots? 
Take 'um, take 'um.' But the Lord stood by an' 
said, ' Let dem boots alone. Don't take 'um. 
Dat's stealin'.' Dere was de Lord on one side 



JOHN BARTHOLOMEW GOUGH 353 

alone, an' dere was I an' de debel on de oderside, 
— a clear majority. Now I might ha' taken dem 
boots an' put 'em under my coat here an' gone 
out an' nobody 'ud known it. But, bress de Lord, 
I 'stood de temptation. I compromised an' took 
a pair ob shoes instead." 

This shows how well Mr. Goucrh could use an 
anecdote to interest and convince his hearers ; 
and he did convince them. Here is another of 
his illustrations : 

" Many persons complain that we attack a 
good thing. A gentleman once said to me that 
we were attacking that which was a very excel- 
lent thing under certain circumstances. A friend 
of mine on one occasion said to me that whiskey 
had saved a great many lives, and I thought that 
I would tell him a story. I said, ' You remind 
me of a boy who wrote a composition about 
"Pins." He said, 'A pin is a very queer thing, 
with a round head and a small point. If you stick 
pins into you they hurt. Men use pins when the 
buttons are off. You can buy pins for five cents 
a paper ; and if you swallow a pin it will kill you ; 
and they have saved thousands of lives.' 

" The teachersaid, ' Why, Jimmy, how do you 
mean that they have saved thousands of lives ? ' 

" ' By people not swallowing them,' was the 
reply. So we allow that whiskey has saved 
23 



354 AMERICAN PIONEERS 

thousands of lives by people not swallowing 
it." 

At another time he told of a gentleman who 
contended that alcohol was a food, that it im- 
parted strength and therefore it must have nour- 
ishment in it. Mr. Gough questioned the state- 
ment that it imparted strength. The man replied 
that one under the influence of intoxicants could 
do what he could not have done without the liquor. 
Mr. Goueh then said that one could do under 
excitement what he could not have done without 
the excitement, although no additional strength 
had been imparted. 

His opponent objected: "No, no. If there 
were activity and excitement imparted, there must 
have been nourishment imparted." 

" But," Mr. Gough replied, " if you break into a 
hornet's nest, there is no ' nourishment ' received 
there ; but there is a great deal of excitement. 
I tell you, you would do under such circumstances 
what you would never do otherwise, and perhaps 
you would run faster than ever you did before in 
your life, without a particle of strength or nour- 
ishment having been given you." 

John B. Gough swayed his audiences in a most 
powerful manner. Few, if any, orators in the 
wide world during the forty years of his public 
life exerted a broader, deeper, or more weighty 



JOHN BARTHOLOMEW GOUGH 355 

influence for good. After his second extended 
tour through England, Scotland, and Ireland, 
Mr. Gough sailed for home in August, i860. 
His last lecture in London was given to an im- 
mense audience in Exeter Hall, where he had 
spoken ninety-five times. Those who had signed 
the pledge in Exeter Hall had subscribed for an 
elegant Bible which was then presented to him. 
In it were written the names of the numerous 
givers, and it was indeed a beautiful gift. Mr. 
Gough says : 

" When the Bible was presented I rose to reply, 
and no school-boy, on his first appearance, could 
have felt more embarrassed. I knew not what 
to say. At last, I said, ' My dear friends, as I 
look at this splendid testimonial of your good- 
will — rich in morocco and gold — beautiful as a 
work of art and skill — I think of another book, 
a little one, broken, torn, ragged, and imperfect 
— you would hardly pick it up in the street — but 
to me, precious as your gift is to-night, more 
precious is that little book. 

" ' On the illuminated fly-leaf of this I read : 
" Presented August 8, i860, to John B. Gough, 
on his leaving England for America, by those 
only who signed the pledge after hearing him in 
Exeter Hall, London." On the brown, mildewed 
fly-leaf of the other book are these words : " Jane 



356 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



GoLigh, born August 12, 1776. John Gough, 
born August 22, 181 7. The gift of his mother 
on his departure from England to America." 
Two gifts and two departures.' 

" As I began to review the two past experiences 




AUUIENCE CHEERING JOHN GOUGH IN EXETER HALL, LONDON 

since I left home, thirty-one years before, the 
flood of recollections came over me, combined 
with the tender associations connected with fare- 
well, and I stammered, became nervous, and 
unable to proceed. As I stood there, the unshed 
tears filling my eyes, Tbomas Irving White rose, 
and taking me by the hand, said : 'God bless 
him! Give him three cheers.' The audience 



JOHN BARTHOLOMEW GOUGH 35/ 

Started to their feet and with waving of hats and 
handkerchiefs, gave them with a will. That 
unsealed the fountain and I bowed my head and 
cried like a very boy. 

" Prayer was offered and afterwards the exer- 
cises continued, and I told them that this splen- 
did book should occupy an honored place in my 
home ; but the little, old, battered Bible of my 
mother should lie by its side. And there they 
do lie, on a table procured for the purpose — the 
two books remain together, as mementoes of the 
past, and the realities of the present, till God shall 
call me." 

After his death, in 1886, Joseph Cook said of 
him, "Two nations, now the foremost on earth, 
mourn a fiery man of Kent. Humanity mourns ; 
for this man had fire in his emotions, in his 
imagination, in his intellect, in his will, and in his 
conscience. He has addressed more than eight 
millions of hearers, given more than eight thou- 
sand addresses, and traveled more miles on his 
lecture tours than would reach twenty times 
around the globe." 

In the great temperance movement that has 
done so much, especially in the United States 
and in Great Britain, for the elevation of the 
human race, he certainly was a pioneer — a mas- 
ter workman that needeth not to be ashamed. 



358 



AMERICAN PIONEERS 



KEY TO PRONUNCIATION 



a as 


a 


in ate. 


a " 




" at. 


a " 




" arm. 


a " 




" all. 


a " 




" air. 


a " 




" i-<?A?. 


e " 




" we. 


e " 


e 


" ^«^. 


e " 


it 


" ^^A-. 



I as 


/ 


in tee. 


i " 


If 


" it. 


" 





" no. 


6 " 


a 


" not. 


o ** 


00 


''food. 


o " 





" ;V//^/". 


u " 


u 


" use. 


u " 


<< 


" us 



ri as French nasal « in I'o//, enfant. 
zh as 2 in azure. 



INDEX 



Adams, John, 226, 320. 
Adams, Samuel, 320. 
Alabama, settlement of, I02. 
Alamo (a la-mo), siege of, 171, 172, 

180, 181. 
Amory, Thomas C, 49. 
" Appleseed, Johnnie," 146, 147. 
Arkansas River, discovered by 

Marquette, 91. 
Armstrong, Samuel C, 307-31 7- 

Bible, the Indian, 323, 324. 

Bienville (byahvel'), 98, 99, 102. 

Biloxi (bMokst), settlement at, 98; 
abandoned, 102. 

Blackstone, William, 49-57- 

Blind, education of the, 293-303. 

Blue-back Spelling Book, 268, 272. 

Bonaparte, Napoleon, sells Loui- 
siana, 155. 

Books, olden time school, 267, 
268, 272, 273; for the blind, 
301-303. 

Boone, Daniel, 103-120, 239. 

Boone, George, 103. 

Boone, Squire, 103. 

Boonesborough (bons'-biir-6), at- 
tack on, 109-113. 

Boston, settlement at, 50. 

Bowie (bd'i). Col. James, 171. 

Bridgman, Laura, 295-301, 304, 
305, 337. 

Burke, Col. Peter, 176. 

Burnett, Peter IL, 206-216. 

Byfield, academy at, 287. 

California, gold discovered in, 187, 
209 ; growth of, 190, 214 ; ceded 
to the U. S., 194 ; gold mining 
in, 195- 

Cambridge, college founded at, 
257, 258. 

Carlisle (kar-lil' ) Indian school ,314. 



Cartier, Jacques (zhak kar-tya), 

22-25. 
Cartwright, Peter, 327-336. 
Champlain (sham-plan), Samuel 

de, 20-34, 81. 
Chandeleur (shan-de-ler) Islands, 

97- 
Chapman, John, 146. 
Charles I L, grants land to Penn, 68; 

conversation with Penn, 71-75- 
Charlestovvn, Puritans arrive at, 47. 
Cherokees, removal of, 168-170 ; 

Houston among the, 175, 177, 

179- . , 

Chicago, Marquette at site of, 92. 
Clark, George Rogers, 117, 128- 

137, ISO- 
Clark, William, 150-162. 
Coligny (c6-len'ye),Gaspard de, 15. 
Constitution of the U.S., 230-238. 
Crockett, David, 163-172, 180. 

Danvers, Mass., pioneers leave, 

142. 
Declaration of Independence, 217, 

218, 224-226. 
Detroit, Boone carried to, no; 

Kenton carried to, 125. 
Devion, Father, 99, 100. 
Dix, Dorothea, 303, 338-346. 
Donner Party, story of, 211, 212. 
Dress of Kentucky pioneers, 106. 
Dunmore, John M., Lord, 119. 
Dutch in America, 58-66. 

Education, of Puritans, 256 ; early 
college, 260, 261 ; in early 
times, 266-274 ; for women, 
279-283, 287-291 ; for the blind, 
293-303 ; of idiots, 303, 304 ; of 
negroes, 306-310, 314-317 ; of 
Indians, 311-314, 323. 

Eliot, John, 318, 319, 321-325- 



360 



INDEX 



Emancipation Proclamation, first, 

251-253 ; second, 253 ; 307. 
Emerson, Rev. Joseph, 2S7. 

Fauquier (fa'kwer), Francis, 222. 

Fort Caroline, settlement at, 15 ; 
captured by Spaniards, 18 ; 
wiped out, 19. 

Fort Ilarmer, 143. 

Fort Laramie (lar'a-me), 202. 

France, in Carolina, 15-iq ; in 
Canada, 21-33 ; in the Mississ- 
ippi valley, 83-93 ; in Louisi- 
ana, 95-102. 

Franklin, Benjamin, 233, 338. 

Freedom, religious, 71 ; for slaves, 
253, 306, 307, 

Girty, Simon, 122-124. 

Gold, discovery of, 187-189, 194 ; 
search for, 189, 190 ; production 
of, 195 ; mining, 213, 214. 

Gough (g5f), John B., 337, 347- 

357- 
Gourgues (gorg), Dominique de, 

19. 
Great Kanawha (ka-na'wa), 114. 

Hamilton, Henry, Governor of 
Detroit, no; captures Vin- 
cennes, 132 ; and ■ Capt. Vigo, 
133 ; surrenders Vincennes, 
136, 137- 

Hampton Institute, 30S-317. 

Hancock, John, 320. 

Harrod, James, 117. 

Harrodsburg, settlement at, 107. 

Harvard College, founding of, 
257-259 ; student life at, 259- 
265 ; motto in Sidney's book at, 
320; Indians at, 323. 

Harvard, John, 257, 258, 

Hedge, Prof. Levi, 262-265. 

Helm, Capt. Leonard, 132, 133, 
136. 

Henry, Patrick, 221, 237. 

Herreshoff (her're.s-h6f), John B., 
292, 293. 



Hiawatha, poem of, 89. 
Hochelaga (ho-shel'a-ga), 22-25. 
Hollis, Thomas, 320. 
Hospitals, Pennsylvania, 338 ; 
Rhode Island, 341 ; for insane, 

345- 

Houses, pioneer, 105, 156, 240- 
242. 

Houston (hus'ton), Samuel, 173- 
186. 

Howe, Samuel G. , 293-305. 

Hudson, Henry, 58, 59. 

Huguenots (hii'ge-nots), in Flori- 
da, 15-19. 

Hurons (hu'rons), missions among, 
83- 

Iberville, Pierre le Moyne d' (pe-3r 
le mvvan de-ber-vel), 94-102. 
Indians, and Spaniards, 19 ; 
entertain Cartier, 22-25 I ^"^1 
Champlain, 27-30 ; and the 
English, 33, 40-45 ; and Wil- 
liam Penn, 75-80 ; and the Jes- 
uits, 81-93 ; 99-101 ; in Ken- 
tucky, 108-113, 1 19-125, 127, 
128 ; in Ohio Valley, 147-149 ; 
and Gen. Clark, 157-162 ; 
Crockett and the, 168-170 ; and 
Houston, 175, 176, 179, 184, 
185 ; and A. L. Lovejoy, 201 ; 
education of, 311-314; mission- 
ary work among, 320-324. 

Insane, treatment of, 337-343. 

Iroquois (Ir-o-kwoi), Indians, 29, 
30, 83. 

Jackson, Andrew, 170, 178. 

Jamestown, settlement at, 35-46 

Jefferson, John, 21S. 

Jefferson, Peter, 218. 

Jefferson, Thomas, and Lewis ami 
Clark expedition, 151, 153 ; and 
Louisiana purchase, 155, 156; 
and Declaration of Indepen- 
dence, 217-229. 

Jesuits, in America, 81-93, 99, 
100. 

Joliet (zho-lya ), Louis, 86-92. 



INDEX 



361 



Kaskaskia (kSs-kSs'kK-a), Mar- 
quette starts mission at, 92 ; 
captured by Clark, 128-131 ; 
Capt. Vigo arrives at, 133. 

Kenton, Simon, 117-126. 

Kentucky, Boone in, 106 ; becomes 
a state, 113; pioneers in, 117, 
126, 127. 

Kieft (keft), VVilhelmus, 60. 



LaSalle, Robert Cavelier (ro-bar' 

ka-va-le-a la sal), 95, 98. 
Lawrence, Abbott, 196. 
Lee, Richard Henry, 224. 
Lee, Robert E., 252, 254. 
Leland (le'land), John, 235-237. 
Lewis, Meriwether, 1 51-154. 
Lincoln, Abraham, 239-255. 
Lincoln,' Sarah Hush, 242, 243. 
Lincoln, Thomas, 239-242. 
Logan, John, 124, 125. 
Longfellow, H. W., 88, 89. 
Lottery Book for Children, 272, 

273- 
Louisiana (l6-e-zl-an'-a), explored 

by La Salle, 95 ; settlement of, 

96-102 ; ceded to the U. S., 154- 

156. 
Lovejoy, Gen. A. L., 196-204. 
Lovejoy, Dr. Samuel, 196. 
Lyon, Mary, 283-291, 



McAuley (ma-ka'-ll), Jerry, 337. 
McKay, Thomas, 210. 
Mackinac (mak'i-na), 85. 
Madison, James, 154, 159, 227, 

228, 230-238. 
Mann, Horace, 266-277, 282, 295, 

303- 
Mansfield, Ohio, 147. 
Marietta, settlement of, 143-145 ; 

Indians at, 148, 149 ; Cartwright 

at, 330. 
Marquette, (mar-ket'), Father, 83- 

Q3, 95- 
M-irshall, James W., 187-189. 



Massachusetts, settlement of, 47- 
52 ; banishes R. Williams, 55 ; 
founds Harvard College, 256, 
257 ; schools in, 275-278 ; seal, 
319, 320. 

Menendez de Aviles (ma-nan'dath 
da a-ve-las ), Pedro, 15-19. 

Mexico, war with, 171, 172. 

Michilimackinac (mlk'l-ll-mak'-l- 
na), 85, 86, 92, 93. 

Minuit (mln u-lt), I'eter, 60. 

Mississippi River, explored by 
Marquette, 87-91 ; explored 
by La Salle, 95 ; French in val- 
ley of, 97-101 ; Boone settles 
beyond the, 1 14. 

Missouri, Boone settles in, 114 ; 
value of Lewis and Clark expe- 
dition to, 154. 

Missouri River, discovered by 
Marquette, 91 ; Lewis and 
Clark seek source of, 152, 153. 

Mobile, settlement of, 102. 

Monticello (mon tes^l'lo), 221, 
223, 224, 229, 230. 

Montpellier (mont-pe'lyer), 230 
238. 

Montreal (mfSnt-re-al), Cartier at, 
21, 22. 

Mount Holyoke. 288-291. 

Muskingum (mus-klng'gum) Riv- 
er, 143. 

Natchez Indians, lor. 

Negroes, education of, 306-310, 
314-317- 

New Amsterdam, settlement of, 
59, 60 ; importance of, 63 ; 
captured by the English, 64-66. 

New England, settlement of, 47. 

New England Primer, 272, 273. 

New Netherland becomes New 
York, 66. 

New Orleans (or'le-^nz), settle- 
ment of, 102 ; capital of south- 
ern Louisiana, 156. 

Opechancanough (u-pecli-an-ca- 
no), captures J. Smith, 4r, 42. 



362 



INDEX 



Oregon, Sutter in, 192 ; its ro- 
mantic history, 196 ; settlement 
of, 205-206 ; sufferings in, 208. 

Osage (o-saj) Indians, origin of, 
159-161. 

Penn, William, 68-80. 
Pennsylvania, settlement of, 70- 

80 ; hospital, 338. 
Perkins Institute for the Blind, 

294, 301. 
Pettygrove, F. W., 203, 204. 
Philadelphia, settlement of, 70. 
Pioneer, hardships, 27, 37, 45, 48, 

49, 81, 82, 102, iq8, 113, 117, 

126, 127, 145, 146, 148, 149, 

208 ; homes, 105, 156, 240-242 ; 

dress, 106 ; methods of travel, 

142, 143, 198-200, 210, 211 ; 

preachers, 326-334, 336. 
Pocahontas (po-ca-h6n'tas), 44, 

220. 
Portland, Oregon, 196 ; naming 

of, 203, 204. 
Port Royal, settlement of, 15. 
Powhatan (pow-ha-tan), 42. 
Pratt, Col. Richard H., 311, 314. 
Providence, settlement at, 55, 56. 
Putnam, Rufus, 138-149. 

Quakers, 68, 69, 71. 

Quebec, settled by the French, 26- 
28, 33; Jesuits arrive at. Si; 
Joliet returns to, 92 ; the gate- 
way of New France, 96. 

Sacramento, gold found at, 187 ; 

settlement at, 193. 
St. Augustine (a'gusten), 14-19 ; 

Indians at, 311. 
St. Ignace (Ig'nas'), 83. 
St. Louis, Boone at. 114 ; Lewis 

and Clark expedition leaves, 

152 ; returns to, 153 ; in 1804, 

154-157; Indians at, 158-162; 

Sutter at, 191. 
San Francisco, in 1850, 192, 193 ; 

growth of, 214, 215. 



San Jacinto (ja-sTn'to), battle of, 

180. 
Santa Anna, captures the Alamo, 

171, 172 ; captured by Houston, 

180, i8i. 
Schools, in Tennessee, 176, 177 ; 

in early times, 266-274 '< reforms 

for, 275-277 ; for women, 279. 

283, 287-291 ; for blind, 294; 

for idiots, 303 ; for negroes, 

306-310, 3^6, 317 ; for Indians, 

311-314- 
Shackamaxon, 75. 
Shawmut, 49, 50, 52. 
Sidney, Algernon, 319, 320. 
Slavery, 248-253. 
Smith, John, 37-46. 
Study Hill, 54-57. 
Stuyvesant (stive sant), Peter, 60- 

67. 
Sutter, John A., 187-195. 

Taminend, 75, 77, 

Tennessee, pioneers in, 163 ; 

Houston moves to, 173. 
Texas, Crockett in, 171, 172 ; 

Houston goes to, 180 ; made a 

republic, 181. 
Thorowgood, John, 322. 
Tonti (t6n'te), Henry de, the iron 

hand, 97, 98 ; visits Iberville, 

loi. 
Travel, methods of, 142, 143, 198- 

200; difficulties of, 210, 211; 

287. 
Travis, Col. William B., 171. 
Tuskegee (tiis-ke'ge), 317. 

University of Virginia, 228. 

Vancouver, 192. 

Van Twiller, Wouter, 60. 

Vigo (ve'go), Capt. Francis, 133. 

Vincennes (vtn-senz'), captured by 

Clark, 128-137. 
Virginia, settled by the English, 

34-46. 

W^aiilatpu (wT-e'lilt'po), 206. 



INDEX 



363 



Washington, Gen. Clark in, 159; 
Crockett at, 166-170; Houston 
at, 184, 185. 

Washington, Booker T., 314-317. 

Washington, George, honors Put- 
nam, 140, 141 ; president of 
Constitutional Convention, 231, 

233- 
Webster, Daniel, 167, 168. 
Webster, Noah, 268. 
White, Dr. Elijah, 198, 200, 201. 
Whitman, Dr. Marcus, 201, 202, 

206, 207. 
Willamette (wll-a'met), 205. 



Willard, Joseph, 263-265. 
Williams, Roger, 55. 
Williamsburg, Va , 219-222. 
Winthrop, John, arrives in Mass., 

47 ; moves to Shawmut, 49 ; 

deeds lands to Blackstone, 52, 

53- 
Women, education of, 279-283, 
287, 291. 

Yeager (ye'ger), George, 117, 118. 
Yadkin River, pione.ers on the, 

105 ; Boone leaves the, 106 ; 

163. 



JUN 9 1905 



il^^l 1^^^^^^^^^^ "-IBRARY OF CONGRESS 



iiiiiiliiilliiiili! i 11 

ill 




